The Rift
by LaminatedSamurai
Summary: A young man suddenly gets pulled far into the future, into the middle of a war. Will he survive? Will he make it home? Will he want to? OMC going into ME1, joining our heroes throughout the games. Rated M for language and eventual romantic content.
1. Beginnings

Author's Note: Ok, everyone, I've been on this site for years, now, and it's been great, and inspiring. This won't be my first work, but it is my first one here, and the first one to be put up for all to read and review(hint, hint). I hope you all enjoy. I'm writing this for my own entertainment, and even if I don't have anyone wanting me to continue, I'll just stop posting, but I won't stop writing. That said, I'll probably have a few chapters ahead of what's posted written. As of right now, I have no beta, and I'm not really looking for one at the moment.

DISCLAIMER: I own the idea of this story, and nothing else. My bank account shows this. Every character, world, piece of tech, and anything else recognizable is property of their respective owners. I am making no money off of this, nor do I want any. This disclaimer applies for all chapters linked in this story.

"Speech"

_'Thoughts'_

The Rift

Chapter I

_'Well, this sucks.'_ Anthony thought to himself as he walked his way down the street towards the town center. _'No job, watching my nephew all day, and not even a damn car..._' Anthony Snyder figured at that moment, he had some of the worst luck in the world. Taking a drag off his cigarette, he continued on his way towards the main street, the list in his pocket his mother and sister had given him on what to get the furthest thing from his mind.

It was summer. Very summer. The walk wasn't that far, but in ninety degree heat and what felt like 200% humidity, it may as well have been miles. With his mother's fragile health, his sister watching her son, and his car sitting useless in the driveway, again, it fell to him to be both breadwinner for his little family, as well as pack mule to the stores and back home. He didn't mind too much, since he had, more or less, free room and board, but he couldn't help but feel that he had a higher calling somewhere else.

Working on ambulances were a love of his, able to help others in their times of need, but with the economy taking a nose dive, insurance companies being more and more stingy with paying out, and the slow drop of need for non-emergency ambulances, it was becoming harder and harder to keep a job for very long. Now was just one of several periods in the past few years where the order of the day was looking for a new company that didn't look like it would fold in the next few months.

_'Maybe I should just finally cut my losses and get out of this state...there has to be a better chance somewhere else',_ he thought, shaking his head at the sorry state he was in. Looking at his watch, he wondered when his phone might ring, waiting on another job lead. Sighing quietly, he continued his trek toward the pharmacy.

Turning a corner down a side street, he stopped in his tracks. Standing there stunned, his half-smoked cigarette actually slipped from his lips, falling uselessly to the ground. Now, he liked to think himself a decent student of science, and an avid fan of sci-fi, but what stood before him simply defied all explanation. _'I must be seeing things,'_ he assured himself. About twenty feet in front of him, was what he could only describe as a...tear. A rip. Hanging in the air before him was a jagged line of light, only a few inches wide, it seemed, but about ten feet long, standing vertically a foot above the sidewalk. Quickly pulling out his phone, he opened the camera and snapped a picture.

Nothing was there in the photo.

_'Ok, Anthony, get a grip. It's not there. Even if it was, it can't be there. Nobody has ever seen anything like this outside of a bad movie or video game, and of all places, showing up in the middle of a town in the middle of New Jersey?' _His mind was racing with what this rip might be. His curiosity getting the best of him, he slowly approached. The light seemed to be growing a little brighter with every step, so he stopped. And took a step back. The light started to fade. _'It's...reacting to me? Like it knows I'm here?'_

Once again stepping closer, and ignoring the hairs standing up on the back of his head, he reached his hand out, slowly bringing his fingertips closer and closer to the floating string of light. About five feet away from the rip, a bolt of energy arced like electricity from the light, striking his hand, sending a jolt of pain through his entire body. No matter how hard he tried, his muscles refused to answer to his commands to pull away. With a final flash, the pain intensified exponentially, and he had what he was sure would be his last thoughts in existence.

_'Fuck, I'm going to die...'_

When the light finally faded, the street was empty. A small breeze blew through, removing the traces of ozone left in the air, a small blackened mark on the concrete the only evidence of the rift. The only evidence anyone had been outside near that spot at all was a black cell phone laying on the ground, quietly ringing.


	2. Beginnings  Part 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter I – Beginnings

"Spoken"

_'Thoughts'_

_*Radio*_

The Rift

Chapter II

Beginnings, Part II

Lieutenant Commander John Shepard walked off the bridge of the _SSV Normandy_, slowly shaking his head at the banter from Joker and Kaiden. Officially, this was only a shakedown run, so they were entitled to be a little lax, but as Joker had pointed out, with a Council Spectre on board, there had to be more going on than things appeared on the surface. Giving a nod to Pressly as he walked further aft to the comm room, he slowed his pace, still a little in awe at the ship around him, which he was currently XO.

A combination of Human and Turian technology, the _SSV Normandy SR-1_ was a groundbreaking prototype frigate, the first of it's class, employing never seen before stealth systems, and a massive eezo drive core that would put a cruiser to shame. The stealth systems were even more impressive. He never really got too much of a chance to read up on the tech behind it, but he remembered something about heat sinks that made the ship essentially a hole in space, only able to be seen visually. Combine that with some of the top people the Systems Alliance had to offer, and the ship was truly a force to be reckoned with.

"What do you think, Commander? We wont be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action!"

Shepard was shaken out of his thoughts by one of the other marines on board. _'What was his name, again...Jenkins, that's right'_ He walked over to where Jenkins was speaking with Dr. Chakwas, returning the corporal's crisp salute. "Easy, there, Corporal. One mission at a time. Who knows, we might have to put down a farmer rebellion. Expect the unexpected, but don't get ahead of yourself." Shepard spoke calmly, but there was a bit of an edge to his voice which clearly said 'stand down', and Jenkins picked up on it.

"Right. Sorry, sir. I just want to be able to get a chance to prove myself to the brass. I mean, I want to get to where you are one day. Everyone's heard about what you did during the Blitz, and on top of it, you made N7!" Shepard closed his eyes and gently pinched the bridge of his nose as once again, someone made like a fanboy around him. _'Next mission, I'm telling the captain, no more greenies.'_ He looked back up at Jenkins, waiting for him to either finish his gushing, or to notice the look he was getting. "I mean, come on, Commander, you're practically a legend, a walking embodiment of badass..." Jenkins finally took notice of the other two people that **were** in the conversation, as well as some of the smirks around the rest of the CIC. "Umm...s-sorry, sir. I guess I got a little carried away with myself."

Shepard just nodded, still trying to formulate an answer for a moment when Dr. Chakwas stepped in. "Corporal, hopefully that should take care of the hero worship for now. I'd rather not have to put in your medical record 'stalking the Commander' as the reason for you coming into medbay one day. As for action, I sincerely hope not. What you Marines call 'action' usually ends up with me having to stitch someone back together." Shepard looked over to the doctor, nodding as he looked back to Jenkins.

"Dr.'s orders, then, Corporal. No glory hounding. Just treat this mission like any other and you'll be fine. Brass looks more for good Marines to promote than those willing to risk themselves to prove something. I got where I am by doing what was right and what I had to, not by showboating." With this, Shepard made his way past the two, turning around and walking backwards for a few moments, hoping to make a bit of an impression on the eager Corporal. "You've got your whole career ahead of you, Jenkins. Just make sure you're around to see all of it."

"Aye-aye, sir. I'll make sure to take up the slack when you eventually retire." Jenkins grinned and threw another salute to the Commander as he turned and walked through the doors into the comm/briefing room. An image of Eden Prime, their destination, was on the viewscreen, the lone figure in the room not the captain as he had expected, but the turian Spectre, Nihlus. As the turian turned to look at him as he entered, he couldn't help but feel as if he was smirking at him. _'Whatever passes for a turian smirk, at least.'_

"Commander. Good, I was hoping to speak to you alone before we made it to Eden Prime. I've been looking at the records of the planet. Quite lovely, for a human colony. A symbol of humanity's exploration of the galaxy." Nihlus turned back to the screen as Shepard stepped up behind him, the image shifting from the mostly untouched wilderness of the planet to the spaceport of the capital city, Constant. "But out here so close to the Terminus, how safe is it, really?"

Shepard crossed his arms, looking at the Spectre for a moment, then back to the screen. "They say it's a paradise, one of the few left under Alliance protection. As for safety, I'd say it's safe enough. Defense turrets and towers cover the area around settlements, and a sensor net covers the planet, as well as an advanced sensor probe at the mass relay, itself." Anderson's voice behind him actually startled him a little, the only man consistently able to catch Shepard off-guard. He hid his surprise as he turned.

"Which is why they sent the _Normandy_ out for this, Shepard." The Captain walked onto the circular platform of the comm room, giving a nod to the turian and a handshake to Shepard. "I think it's time we let the Commander in on the real reason we're out here, Nihlus." Anderson walked up to the controls, typing his clearance codes in to show a dig site near the spaceport, and a strange looking artifact standing under guard. David Anderson was an imposing man at times, and his presence and words immediately brought the idle chat to an end.

"I figured this was a bit more than a shakedown run, Captain. You and Nihlus being here tipped off just about everyone to that." Shepard looked up at the viewscreen, just shaking his head. _'This is going to be good.'_

* * *

><p>"Just a simple pick up my ass. Why does shit like this always happen to me?" Shepard cursed quietly to himself as the train picked up speed, headed toward the colony spaceport. <em>'First the Geth, Jenkins gets killed, this <em>Saren_ caps Nihlus, and now we're headed straight toward where that ship landed chasing a Prothean beacon, of all things.' _Checking on his assault rifle, he looked back at Alenko and Williams. Both were checking their own weapons as well, nobody knowing just how many geth might be on the other end of the platform. "Alright, I don't think we're going to find too many survivors over there, especially if it's a spaceport. Not usually many places to hide. Geth or turian, fire first, ask questions later, secure the beacon."

Dual answers of "Aye, sir" was all he needed to hear before turning back, seeing the spaceport station growing near. Putting his assault rifle down for a moment, he pulled out his sniper rifle, checking through the scope to assess the upcoming area. He could just make out geth figures moving around, some carrying large cylinder shapes. When a pair set one down and began to work at it, he was able to get a better view from his moving vantage point. "The geth are setting demo charges. Looks like they want to take out the whole damned spaceport. Williams, do you have tech experience?"

"Not really, sir, other than the basics I can run off my omni-tool." Ashley answered, looking over to Kaiden, who just shook his head at the unasked question, giving his rifle one last pat as he readied it, clenching his fist tightly, the telltale blue glow of dark energy from his biotics manifesting itself for a moment before fading back again. Shepard just sighed and shook his head again, collapsing and holstering the sniper rifle, picking up his assault rifle and thumbing the safety off.

"Alright then. Weapons free, people. We make a sweep from the station, disable the charges as we find them, and make sure the only things still standing on this planet are human." With that order, assault rifles and a shotgun came up to bear, the small strike team stepping off the train almost before it stopped moving. Rounds started pelting them from several angles, the unique sound of a geth plasma rifle sounding from all around them, the echos from the metal walls of the spaceport a little disorienting, but these were quickly filtered out by their suit's on-board VI's, linking with the weapons in their hands to ensure the accuracy of what they were hearing, seeing, and more importantly, shooting at.

Moving through the spaceport, the geth troopers were quickly dispatched. At each explosive, Williams and Alenko took point positions, allowing the Commander to link up his omni-tool with the bomb, scrolling through lines of code in the timer sequence, picking out each of the bits that would permanently freeze the timer and make the entire contraption relatively harmless. Once the last bomb was deactivated, the three soldiers focused all their attentions on the remaining geth.

"All clear, Commander." That was the best thing Shepard had heard all day, still looking around a few moments longer before forcing himself to relax, letting the adrenaline work it's way out of his system from the battle. Lowering his weapon for a moment, he continued to look around for a few moments, finally putting the assault rifle back into it's storage mode and into it's position on his back. Geth forms littered the ground, some still leaking hydraulic fluid, one still sparking slightly, it's leg twitching as it tried to move even a little.

Williams walked up to the twitching geth, leveled her shotgun at the geth's torso, and pulled the trigger. The mass accelerated chips of metal tore into the synthetic's form, finally destroying the power core, leaving the geth silent and motionless. "That was for my squad, asshole." Ashley collapsed her shotgun as well, securing it in the small of her back. As she walked over toward her new squad mates, she at least had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Sorry, sir. Just taking care of a little personal matter."

Shepard just nodded, understanding her feelings. Looking over toward the beacon, positioned against one of the railings, he gestured with a nod of his head. "Looks like it wasn't damaged by the geth. I didn't see it doing that in the recon images the Alliance, got, though. You have more experience with this thing than either of us, Chief. See that before?" The beacon nearly pulsed with energy, a strange green glow surrounding it. Williams looked over to the beacon, blinking a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"No, sir. It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up. It just sort of...sat there. Big paperweight, if you ask me. But this...," she just shook her head, at a loss for words at the sight of the ancient technology apparently alive and working. "It looks like someone must have activated it. Hell if I could figure out how, though."

"Think about it. Actual _working_ Prothean technology. It's unbelievable! The tech-heads back home will be drooling over this thing for years!" Kaiden was in awe as he spoke, each of the soldiers giving the beacon a bit of distance from approaching. Shepard raised his hand up to the side of his head, mostly out of habit, holding your hand up to your ear being the accepted way to show you were on the radio rather than talking to yourself. As he spoke, he turned his back on the beacon, looking upwards.

"The area is secure, _Normandy._ Requesting evac. We're going to need some heavy lift gear for our package." Shepard wasn't sure if that other ship was still in the area, listening in to coms traffic, even if it was encrypted. Joker's voice sounded in his ear.

_*Copy that, ground team. Evac inbound, ETA 10. Clearing the cargo hold for your package. Alliance has been notified and is sending crews for cleanup and survivor treatment.*_ Shepard nodded and let out a small sigh. "Roger, Normandy. Standing by for evac." A small accomplishment, but it felt hollow after the deaths of Jenkins, Nihlus, and what felt like countless colonists. _'Hooray for our side...'_

"Whoa!"

Shepard turned at the cry from Williams, and couldn't believe what he saw. The beacon looked more active than before, and Ashley looked as if something had her around the waist, dragging her towards the beacon. She fought, but could barely keep traction on the metal diamond plate decking, and was getting closer and closer. Barely hesitating a moment, Shepard took off at a dead sprint to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling against whatever had a grip on her. The moment he won out, he threw her aside, getting her out of the danger zone. Unfortunately, that left the beacon's 'attention' solely on him. It felt like something dragging on every fiber of his being, until he felt his feet lift off the deck, holding him aloft in front of the beacon.

Suddenly, he felt something in his mind, like an assault on his very soul. Images came unbidden to his mind; maps to planets he had never seen, skies blackened by massive ships, an entire species being exterminated, cries of help in a long-dead language, and a thousand more flashes, all faster than he could even imagine. The deluge of images and information came to an abrupt halt, and with a crack like thunder, Shepard felt himself be thrown backwards from the beacon, slipping from consciousness even before he hit the ground.

Alenko and Williams looked on in shocked wonder as the Commander was pulled into the air, and only moments later thrown backwards as the beacon crackled and detonated itself, sending small pieces of metal around the area. When the dust settled, the beacon was little more than a smoking husk of it's former self, still crackling slightly. Suddenly, in front of the beacon, where Shepard had been floating, a jagged line of light seemed to rip itself into existence. With a sharp _CRACK_ like thunder, another form came sailing out of this rip of light, which disappeared as strangely as it appeared. The body tumbled to to the ground, landing a few feet away from Shepard.

Kaiden and Ashley looked at each other, stunned at the young man's sudden appearance. He was dressed casually, but not like any style they had ever seen, outside of vids from over a hundred years ago from Earth. A black shirt proudly proclaiming 'Stand back. I'm going to try science', a pair of khaki shorts, and white sneakers, all of which looked very out of place on a colony at the edge of human space.

"Well, LT...how the hell are we going to fit this into our report?"

AN: Sorry for the short fist chapter. All the rest should be about this long. Chapter 3 has already been started, and shouldn't be too long in coming. I'm going to give this to about chapter 5 before I make a decision as to weather or not I'm going to keep posting. If the interest is there, you'll get them as I can put them out. I'm aiming for about every other week at the moment, and hopefully that will stay constant. Anthony's shirt is here: tinyurl(dot)com/riftshirt


	3. Awakening

AN: Checking the stats, I can see the demand for this. So you're getting this chapter early as a huge thank you for your support.

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter III

Awakening

Pain. Nausea. A feeling of traveling incredibly fast, only to burst through a wall, sail through the air, and tumble to the ground. These were all that Anthony knew for the moment, horribly disoriented from touching the rift. His head swimming, he opened his eyes, looking towards the clouds floating lazily above him. Closing them again to help staunch the new wave of nausea and maybe help the double vision he was having, he tried to figure out just what was going on. _'I really hope someone saw where that truck went.' _He was vaguely aware of sounds of fighting somewhere in the background, but more pressing was the feeling of someone coming to check on him.

"LT, he's still moving!", he heard coming from above him. It was a woman's voice. _'Wait..."LT"? Police? No...too harsh. Military?'_ Taking a chance with further nausea, he opened his eyes again, being greeted with the sight of a woman looking up to someone else over his head. He couldn't help but look her over, curious at the strange outfit she had. It looked like some kind of armor suit, but nothing like he had ever seen before outside of movies or games. Similarly strange was the weapon she placed on the ground before looking back to him. "Don't move, you're going to be alright."

"Chief, I just got off the horn with Joker. _Normandy_ will be here in 5 for dust-off and Dr. Chakwas will have medbay ready. He alive?" Anthony looked up, still blinking the after images of the rift out of his vision. Standing a few feet away was a man in similar armor to the woman, also holding another weapon, which to his amazement, folded itself up into a compact package with the touch of a button, sticking to his back as he placed it near.

"Yeah, I'm alive...I think. What the hell happened?" Anthony slowly propped himself up on his arms, confused at the feeling of metal under his hands. That confusion just got worse as he looked around. No longer was he on the street he was walking down. He was on a platform of some kind, attached to the outside of a building made of similar metal. In the distance, he could see green hills and mountains he didn't recognize as New Jersey, and sticking out of a forest was a tall tower like he had never seen before, what looked like red beams of light leaving the top and landing in the trees below. What dominated his vision, though, was a crater. A big, fucking _crater_ in the middle of it all, fires still raging in the middle, stretching further than anything he had ever seen before. Not knowing what else to do, his body took over and did the only thing it could at the moment. He passed out.

Kaidan and Ashley looked between the young man and the Commander, neither sure what to say at what just happened. Shepard had been pulled up by the beacon, thrown backwards, knocked out cold as the beacon exploded, and then all of a sudden, a kid more or less appears from thin air, just as confused as them, and then _he_ passes out.

* * *

><p>Anthony slowly opened his eyes some time later. How long, he had no idea. He immediately closed them again from the glare of the florescent lighting in whatever room he was now in. Keeping his eyes closed, he took a quick stock of what was going on with himself. <em>'Ok, a little sore, but whatever happened threw me on my ass, so no emergency there. Nothing feels broken, I can still feel my toes...' <em>This time, he slowly opened his eyes, raising a hand to shield them from the lights as he let them adjust. Some of the equipment looked familiar enough to let him know he was in a medical facility of some kind, but other things were practically alien to him, parts recognizable, but they just didn't exist. The display above him, for example, which seemed to display a combination of his heart rate, breathing, blood oxygen levels, and even brain activity, all without a single wire from the console to his body.

"Ah, seems like our mystery guest has finally woken up."

Anthony looked towards the voice, lowering his hand again since he wasn't staring directly at the overhead lights. In front of him stood a woman, a little older than the one that he first saw, and not in armor. She had greying hair just above her shoulders, and her uniform was definitely nothing he had ever seen before, military or not. She walked over towards her desk, pressing a finger to the surface, then walking over towards him while looking up at the readings on the monitor above him. He couldn't help but ask, "What's going on? Where am I?"

The woman looked down to him and smiled, one that he recognized immediately, having given it many times before to patients in his own care. It was a smile that said 'I'm here to help, but I have no clue what's happening to you'. Her voice was calm and professional, but caring at the same time. "It's alright, you're safe, now. Right now, you're on a ship heading away from Eden Prime and to the Citadel. That's all I can really say at the moment. Very hush-hush, you understand." Anthony just nodded softly, leaning his head back onto the bed beneath him, closing his eyes again. _'Yeah, definitely a military doctor. And what was that? Eden Prime? Citadel?' _The door at the far end of the room opened, and and two other men walked in. Both held themselves very highly from the way they walked. The one leading was in what appeared to be some kind of dress uniform, the other a little more relaxed, but still obviously military style. "Captain, Commander. He's still a little disoriented, so try not to be too hard on the boy."

The one she referred to as 'Captain' nodded to the woman and looked over to the bed. "Thank you, doctor. We'll keep that in mind. How you feeling, son?" He reached out and offered his hand. Anthony took it and gave a firm shake, before letting go and slowly pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Forgive me for not saluting, sir. I feel like I just got hit by a truck," Anthony answered, wincing and putting a hand to the back of his neck, which was complaining about the movement. He then pulled his hand up to a salute, holding it there as he spoke. "Sargent Anthony Snyder, Marine Corps. Reserve, 4th medical battalion."

The 'Captain' and 'Commander' both looked at each other, a little surprised, before the 'Captain' returned the salute. "At ease, sargent. Captain David Anderson, my XO, Lt. Commander John Shepard. How did you come to be all the way out here on Eden Prime?" Anthony relaxed a little at the order, slowly standing to his feet, making sure he had a grip on the bed behind him, just in case.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" At Anderson's nod, he just shook his head. "Honestly, I have no idea where the hell Eden Prime _is_, much less how I got over here, sir. Last I knew I was on my way to the store, this light comes out of nowhere, and the next thing I know, I'm laying on my back with a headache the size of a city bus. Then I woke up here."

Shepard took the opportunity to speak up this time. "Where were you stationed, sargent? I'm sure your CO is probibly having kittens at the moment trying to figure out where you are. You gone AWOL, or something?"

Anthony shook his head at that. "Absolutely not, sir. I was discharged three years ago. Medical. My humvee was hit by an RPG. I'm the only one out of my vehicle that made it, blown out the side door. I have nerve damage in my back. Still a little shrapnel there, too. Been trying to make it as a civilian EMT ever since. You know what they say, though. Not it, but never out, right?"

Shepard and Anderson looked at each other again, both even more confused than anything else. Anderson looked back to Anthony. "Humvee? RPG? Son, I havn't heard those words in years, and that's more military history, than anything. Might want to rethink your story a little." Anthony just looked confused at that.

"I'm not sure what you mean, sir. Humvees are still in use, now. The Pentagon has been wanting something new, sure, but it's still the main ground vehicle we have. Hell, I love the damn things. If it wasn't for the armor they add in, I'd probably be dead right now." Anthony looked around confused even more than the two officers were.

Shepard shook his head at that. "Wrong again, actually. M-35 Mako is the standard ground vehicle, now. Humvees havn't been in use since..." Shepard pulled up his omni-tool, Anthony's eyes going wide at the sudden appearance of the orange hologram around his arm. "Hmm...I was a few years off. 2038." Deactivating his omni-tool, Shepard looked back to Anthony. "So you're talking about something that hasn't seen action in 140 years." Anthony shook his head at that.

"No, that can't be right...140 years? It's 2011! 140 years ago, Grant was the President. I don't think he was riding around in a Hummer back then." Anthony was in shock about this, looking around a bit more at the room he was in. Everything in here fit, but felt horribly out of place at the same time. The computer terminal at the desk was little more than a monitor, the keyboard... Wait. The keyboard was _floating in the fucking air! And it was another hologram!_

Anderson shook his head. "Wrong again, actually. It's 2183. Why don't you just take a seat again, son. I'm going to check up on your so-called 'credentials'." Anderson walked over to the terminal, activating it and pulling up the Alliances historical military records. Searching through them as Shepard kept a close eye on Anthony, he was surprised to find a hit.

_Sgt. Anthony William Snyder_

_Serial Number AS-3827-LN_

_4th Medical Battalion_

_Clearance Level Top Secret_

_Honorably Discharged 03-18-2009, Medical Disqualification, Wounded In Combat_

_Last Known Contact 06-20-2011_

Attached to the file was a photo of the young man sitting across from him in his dress uniform, as well as a description from his family as to what he was last wearing. Everything matched exactly. Either someone went through a lot of trouble to try and get this kid's story straight, or he was actually telling the truth.

"Sorry about that, Sergeant. When someone says they're from over 150 years in the past, it's natural to be a little...skeptical. We'll see if we can arrange you a bunk while we're on the way to the Citadel. I'll also arrange some reading material for the trip. You've got quite a bit of catching up to do."

* * *

><p>The flight into the Citadel was uneventful, compared to the rest of what was going on. Since the sleeper pods on the crew deck were already full on their rotations, Anthony was given an actual bunk in the medbay supply room. Dr. Chakwas wanted to keep him nearby in case any other symptoms of his journey to the 22nd century surfaced, as well as to give him a sense of privacy, since technically he was a civilian. Anthony didn't mind too much. Learning more and more about where he found himself now was an undertaking in and of itself. He gave history a brief once-over to familiarize himself with what had happened to bring humanity this far. He then moved on to the technology advances he had seen in his short time conscious, finally ending with a basic overview of the major players at the Citadel, as well as the major races of the past hundred years. Overwhelming was an understatement to all of it, but he kept at it the entire way.<p>

He also made a point to find Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams and Staff Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, wishing to thank the both of them personally. Both adamantly refused to take any more credit than just being there, but he thanked them anyway. Given nearly full roam of the _Normandy_ due to his previous security clearance(so what if it was expired by 156 years?), he made friends with many of the crew, particularly Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, the ship's pilot. He had enough of an insubordinate attitude to make Anthony feel like he was chatting with an old friend from his own time, and yet still knew when to reel it in when talking to Anderson or Shepard. Well, Anderson, at least.

When the _Normandy_ finally cleared the mass relay to the Citadel, something that Anthony was sure he'd never get used to, he looked out the bridge windows alongside Shepard, Williams, and Alenko, all of whom he had shared a particular friendship. "Holy shit...would you look at that thing? I thought being on an honest-to-god starship was unbelievable. That's just mind-blowing." Shepard just smirked, Williams and Alenko both staring out with Anthony.

"How about that? The _Destiny Ascension._ Flagship of the Citadel fleet. She'd be able to crack us clean in half with that main gun." Alenko looked out as he spoke, the ship in question looming in the distance, facing out from the massive space station beyond it, challenging all comers to the Citadel. The Citadel, itself, though, was way beyond what he had imagined. Sure, he read up about it and the Council, but to actually see it in front of him was awe inspiring on a whole other level.

"Good thing she's on our side, then. But it takes more than just big guns to get around out here. I bet I could probably fly circles around it." Joker grinned as he smoothly piloted the _Normandy_ past the dreadnaught, activating the comm to the approach frequencies. "Citadel Control, this is _SSV Normandy_, requesting approach vectors for dock."

_*Copy, Normandy. Vector is clear, transmitting now. Prepare for guidance lock. Transferring you to an Alliance operator.*_ Whoever was on the other end sure sounded like they hated their job, Anthony guessed. And looking around at the numerous ships flying about the station, he didn't blame him. _*Normandy, this is Alliance tower. You are cleared for dock at bay 4-2-2. Ambassador Udina asked a message to be relayed. He's expecting your CO and ground team in the embassy. Acknowledge.*_

"Recieved, tower. Thanks for playing mailman. En route to bay 4-2-2. _Normandy_ out." Joker let his hands fly over the holographic controls, bringing the Presidium ring closer and closer. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we're on final to the Citadel. Please keep all limbs inside the ship until we have come to a full and complete stop. For those who have never seen the Citadel before, your jaws are located on the deck in front of you. Please collect them before disembarking." Anthony chuckled at Joker, turning back toward the window, watching as the wards passed by. Finally the docking bays could be made out, and the ship passed smoothly into it's berth, coming to a gentle stop. A small lurch was the only evidence that the magnetic clamps had attached themselves, holding the ship in place. "Thank you for flying with us, today Not like you had much of a choice, but the thought counts, right?"

Anthony just shook his head as he made his way from the bridge, heading towards the Captain's quarters, remembering that Anderson wanted to see him before he would be allowed to leave the ship. Walking down the stairs and to the door off to the starboard side of the crew deck, he pressed the 'announce' button, looking down at the gloves he wore to be able to use the holographic interfaces around the ship. _'Hopefully, I get some mone-...credits soon enough. Getting those implants like almost everyone else would definitely help.'_ The door light changed to green and the door slid apart, granting him access to the room. He stepped in and saluted. "Reporting as ordered, Captain."

Anderson looked up and smiled, standing and shaking his head. "You know, Anthony, you're not officially military anymore. You don't need to salute me. And it was more of a request than an order. But all the same, I'm glad you showed." He motioned toward the small table in the room, taking a seat for himself first. Anthony walked over and sat as well. "I know you've been reading up on the different races that you'll be able to meet, but are you sure you're ready for it all? Most humans from your time still thought they were alone in the galaxy."

Anthony thought for a few moments, then nodded. "I've seen enough pictures to not really be freaked out, sir. I was never one of those people. And I know about the whole saluting business, but it's a habit they drilled into me so much, I would probably salute in my sleep if you or the Commander came into the medbay store room. And before you ask, sir, no, I wouldn't have wanted a sleeper pod. Call me old-fashioned, but I'd much prefer a normal rack than a pod."

Anderson just smiled and nodded, standing again. Anthony stood with him and walked over toward the door. "I would have expected nothing else. I pulled a few strings, Sergeant. You don't get to be my age without making a few friends. Landing on what was left of the beacon tore up your back pretty good. Dr. Chakwas actually removed the shrapnel left in your back, thinking it had gotten in there on Eden Prime, repairing the nerve damage. So I made a few calls through to the Alliance brass. Your commission has been reinstated in the Alliance Marine Corps, assigned as a field medic here on the _Normandy_, but only after Chakwas is satisfied that you won't kill anyone in the field with all this new technology. Congratulations, Sergeant." With that, Anderson saluted, one that was returned crisply, the grin on Anthony's face was damn near infectious at hearing the news.

"Sir, thank you, sir. I won't let you down. As you said, sir, I've already been hitting the books on all I've missed. Depending on how long our stay here on the Citadel is, I might even be ready for our next ground mission." Anthony's mind started in on getting a bit of a training regimen in, to get himself back into better shape and a list of medical equipment he would have to familiarize himself with.

"Actually, Sergeant, myself, Commander Shepard, Joker, and a few other members of the command staff will be leaving, soon. We were here for the shakedown run of the _Normandy_, which was just a cover for the beacon pick up. Alenko, Williams, Dr. Chakwas, and the rest of the crew, yourself included, will be moving on to the 63rd Scout Flotilla, under Rear Admiral Mikhailovich." Anderson seemed to be almost apologetic for a few moments. "I still haven't heard who your new CO will be, but the 63rd is a good outfit."

Anthony nodded and let out a soft sigh. "Thank you, sir. It may not be what I had hoped, but it's still better than where I was a week ago." Anderson reached forward and offered his hand, which Anthony promptly took and gave a firm shake. "I guess after this, I'll be seeing you around, Captain. Please give my regards to Commander Shepard and Joker. Honestly, sir, I'm a little eager to head onto the Citadel."

Anderson just nodded and smiled, giving one final salute. "Godspeed, Sergeant Snyder." The salute was sharply returned, and, recognizing a dismissal, the newly reinstated sergeant marched out of the room, a bit more of a spring in his step as he made his way to the medbay. Anderson watched him as he left, hoping he had been doing the right thing. _'I have a feeling son, you're going to need it.'_

AN: Ok, longest chapter so far. Yay! Thanks to everyone that has reviewed so far. Also, Holy crap! As of chapter 2, 4 favorites, 1 author favorite, 7 story alerts, and an author alert! I feel so loved by you guys! 259 hits and only 5 reviews isn't too bad, from what I've seen of other stories, but the fact that, for my first story, I've already gained such a following has absolutely convinced me. Forget the 5 chapter thing. You guys are getting it all. I'll be splitting the whole arc into a trilogy, one story covering each game.

General raam: Yeah, I'm definitely in for the long haul on this one. As this chapter can show, working on the longer chapters. Thanks for the review, and I hope you stick around.


	4. Into the Swing of Things

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter IV

Into The Swing Of Things

Anthony stepped off the boarding platform that was attached to the Normandy, planting his feet on the docking bay platform, letting out a sigh as he looked around. Walking toward the elevator, he pressed the call button, reaching over and straightening his new uniform. Luckily, there was another crew member that was close enough to his size that he could borrow until he was issued his own. It was a little big, but it would do for the moment. _'And it covers my new sidearm a little better.'_ Looking up as the elevator opened, he grinned and snapped to attention, throwing a salute, catching the person in the elevator completely off guard. "Good to see you again, sir."

Joker blinked as he looked at Anthony. "Man, not that I mind getting some well-deserved recognition, finally, but what are you doing?" Joker made his way out of the elevator, hopping his way out on his crutches. Anthony laughed a bit and released the salute, giving Joker a light clap on the shoulder.

"Captain Anderson spoke with a few of his friends in high places. I'm officially a leatherneck again." At Joker's even more confused look, he sighed and smiled. "I guess they don't use that anymore. Leatherneck is an old Earth term for Marine." Joker nodded and started walking toward the docking ramp.

"Congrats, Ant. But, yeah, stick with Marine. Keep calling yourself a leatherneck and someone might think you were either crazy, or some other human-looking race. And don't salute me...it feels too weird." Anthony nodded and waved back as he stepped into the elevator, pushing the button to depart the docking bay. The door closed and the car started moving, soon dropping into the open area of the C-Sec academy. Taking a deep breath, he waited for the doors to open. Not only on the Citadel, proper, but on his first encounter with an alien race.

The door slid into the floor and he stepped out into the atrium. He tried as much as he could to keep from gawking around like a tourist, but a little of it couldn't be helped. He saw a few other humans, but the majority of the officers around him were turians. He watched as one went past, keeping his eyes moving so it didn't look as if he was staring. The turian looked back at him for a moment, then turned back and kept walking, headed towards a shot corridor behind the elevator. Anthony shook himself out of it and started following the turian, wondering what was going on that he was dressed out in armor rather than the usual uniforms the other turian and human officers were wearing.

The turian stepped into another elevator at the end of the hall, reaching out to hit the button. "Hey, wait! Hold that elevator!" The turian turned around as Anthony called out, watching as he jogged the last few meters to the door. "This goes up to the Presidium, towards the embassies, right?" A curt nod and a sideways look was almost all that greeted him.

"Yeah, the human embassy, at least. First time on the Citadel?" Anthony looked over to the turian and nodded, stepping into the car as the button was pushed. The door slid smoothly closed, and with a small lurch, the elevator made it's way towards the main promenade. "You'll find your way around soon enough. Most humans just go straight to their embassy and don't leave the area. Especially you military-types." Anthony looked over to the turian and nodded.

"Yeah, that's where I'm headed, anyway. Not sure if I'm going to be around long enough to learn my way, unfortunately. No idea when I'm shipping back out again." Anthony looked through the small window in the side of the elevator, a little disappointed that all he could see was the side of the elevator shaft moving by.

"Bad luck, then." The elevator came to a smooth stop, the doors sliding open again. Both men stepped out, the turian turning back to the human, pointing off to the left. "Embassy's that way. Ask Avina if you get lost again." He then turned off and started walking towards another elevator, one at the bottom of a tower that went the entire height of the Presidium.

"Um, sure. Hey, thanks!" Anthony called after the turian, receiving a wave in return, not even turing around as he walked into the other elevator. Anthony shrugged and took hid first good look around the Presidium. The artificial sky stretched out above him, apparently in the middle of the day cycle. The grounds were kept meticulous, small fountains lending a tranquil atmosphere. _'Guess they want the politicians to zen out or something.'_ He made his way over, looking up at the signs, but disregarding them, unable to read the trade tongue just yet. "Alright...embassy...that looks like it...I think." He walked up towards one of the more set aside areas, walking up to the receptionist. He took a moment as he walked to admire her. Bright green eyes brought him in a bit, and a very disarming smile, most likely built up from years of working with people. So what if her skin was blue? He thought she was absolutely beautiful.

"Welcome to the embassies, Sargent. Ambassador Udina is expecting you in his office. It's up the stairs to your right, first door on the right." She smiled, but he could tell it was one that everyone got, turning her attention back to the terminal in front of her after a moment. Anthony nodded and walked off toward the indicated direction. _'Have to ask on my way back through...how the hell did she know who I was?'_ Clearing his head, he found himself in front of a few doors. Stepping up to the first one on the right, he was greeted with the sight of Shepard, Alenko, Williams, and Anderson all standing in front of a set of holograms, Shepard in particular looking like he wanted to strangle the other man in the room, who he assumed must have been Udina.

Anthony stepped in and let the door close as he saw the holograms finally fade out, not wanting to interrupt what must have been the Council. _'Definitely not the way to make a good impression in a new time.'_ He marched smartly over to the group, standing at attention. Saluting as Anderson turned, he took a little pleasure in seeing the surprise on the faces of the ground team. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

Anderson returned the salute, nodding. "Snyder, good. You may not have been there for the entire mission on Eden Prime, same as Williams, but I felt you should be here as well, so we all can be on the same page. Plus, your...unique perspective on things might help." Anthony nodded and stepped into line with Shepard and his new crewmates, standing at ease. Udina, however, was quite irritated with this move.

"Anderson, I thought I said we had enough of your crew in on this, already. And now, you've called in another? This isn't a friendly get-together, Captain." Udina then walked up to Anthony, looking at him with no small bit of contempt. "And you. Luckily for you, the people in this room, whoever you've told on the _Normandy_, and Admiral Hackett are the only ones who know your full story. Otherwise, some company might try to ship you off to Noveria to find out just how the hell you got here." Anthony stiffened at this, looking over to Anderson, clenching his fits behind his back. The Captain gave a small shake of his head, moving over to Udina.

"_I_ asked him to be here, Ambassador. You want to tear someone out, do it to me, not my crew. His skills will come in handy, and as I said, many of the things that we see as commonplace are new to him." Anderson nodded towards Anthony. "Something we accept as just 'the way it works' might set off some warning bells to him. I know you read a copy of his file before it was brought 'up to date'. He's seen more than most would have, even now in our time."

Udina just looked at Anthony once more before turning and moving back to his desk. "Fine, Anderson. But if the Council has an issue with him being around during our meeting, it's on _your_ head."

* * *

><p>The four walked down the steps from the Council chambers, having let Anderson and Udina step down first, all of them wanting to keep a good distance away from the ambassador. "I give you credit, Sergeant. First time around aliens, the Council, no less, and you kept your cool." Shepard reached over and clapped Anthony on the shoulder. "Good show."<p>

Anthony sighed and nodded. "Thank you, sir. Wasn't too tough. If you can ignore the President in a hospital giving you your medal for getting blown up, three more politicians that can't see around their own egos isn't much more of a stretch." Shepard just chuckled at this, Alenko and Williams both suddenly catching a strange cough, covering their mouths. Anthony continued, "The Captain was right, though. I think I did pick up on something. Did anyone else get a good look at that hologram of Saren? I may not be an expert on turian body language or anything, but something about him was definitely off." The four of them walked further towards the elevator back to the public areas of the Presidium. Shepard just nodded as he walked.

"He was being defensive. Understandable, but you could tell he was hiding something. Something big." The team stepped into the elevator and began the long ride back down toward the embassy. "The Council wants proof Saren's gone rogue. If it exists, we'll find it. So, who wants to track down a turian through all of C-Sec?" A set of groans met Shepard's question, to which he grinned. "Oh, come on. It can't be that hard. I mean, how many turians can there be in C-Sec?"

"A lot, sir," was the simple response from Ashley. She raised a hand to prove her point, showing the numerous C-Sec officers stationed around the Presidium. Almost every single one was turian. Shepard shrugged and walked out of the elevator as the door opened, walking towards the other elevators headed towards the wards. "Well, I suppose Harkin might have something to say. I honestly don't trust anyone that deals with the Shadow Broker."

Anthony looked over toward Shepard. "Not to sound completely out of my element, sir, but who is the Shadow broker, anyway? I was able to read a little, but the details just weren't there. Coming into all of this, I don't like having that big of a gap, especially where someone with that much apparent ifluence comes into play." Shepard just shook his head, slowing his pace a little.

"I think that volus the Captain mentioned might have more that I do, but the basics aren't too far away from the _Normandy_'s codex on the Broker. Been around for decades. Sells information to the highest bidder. If you need to find dirt on anyone, the Broker is the one to go to. But the Shadow Broker is just as likely to have you disappear if you seem like you get a little more interested in something he'd rather you don't." At this point, Kaiden took up the explination.

"_He_ might not even be right. Most people think the Broker is just a title for a whole team. The amount of info they have on so many people could never be kept straight by just one person." Anthony nodded, adjusting his uniform again. He looked around the Presidium a bit more, a move which wasn't lost on Shepard.

"Anthony, we'll go and see Harkin. Why don't you take a little time to actually look around the place? After all, not every day you get thrown into a whole new part of culture. The _Normandy_ is going to be here for a few days until it'll be turned over to it's next Captain. Visit a store, schmooze around a little." Anthony nodded, sighing quietly, letting a little sarcasm slip into his voice. Superior officers or not, these people felt more like his friends than anything else.

"Alright, I get it. Seedy bar, let's not let the kid in. I see how it is with you, Commander. I figured you guys would kick me off the ride somewhere." At Shepard's confused look, and looking as if he was about to defend himself, Anthony let himself crack into a smile. "Just pulling your leg a little, Commander. I was thinking of taking care of something, anyway. I constantly forget to put these on." At this, Anthony held up his hands, still encased in the gloves to allow him to use the computer interfaces. Ashley grinned, deciding to have a little fun with him as well.

"You know, Sergeant, it can be risky going bareback. Complications and such." Anthony blinked as he looked over to Ashley, then back to Kaiden and John, the two of them trying not to laugh, but Ashley had a look of dead seriousness. Anthony just shook his head and sighed, slowly turning and walking away. Ashley turned back to the guys, a smug look on her face. Shepard was about to chide her for the teasing when Anthony's voice beat him to it.

"You know, Chief, that whole fraternization between officers and subordinate thing? Please don't tempt me to resign my commision. I just got it back." Ashley blinked and actually blushed as she turned around, staring down the young Sergeant. Anthony grinned and gave a wave as he walked off towards the shops on the level. Shepard and Alenko couldn't hold it in any longer and both started chuckling. Ashley turned on both of them, shooting a bit of a glare at both of them. Both covering up the laughing with a series of sharp coughs, and looking anywhere else, both men made it look like they were doing something else.

"Ahem...So...now that that's all out there...off to Chora's Den, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Anthony made his way down to the markets, having checked his balance at the bank and gotten a credit chit. He didn't have full back pay from his 'traveling', but the Alliance had given him enough to live on again until his real paychecks could start. He ran over the small list he made over in his mind. <em>'Ok, my own omni-tool is a definite. Seeing how damn useful those things are, it would be kind of stupid not getting one. Need to find somewhere that can give me the interface implants, too. Computer said it's simple, and most medical facilities can do it...'<em> Looking through the markets, he purposefully ignored some of the more...eager merchants. He finally stopped in front of a kiosk run by a salarian, who was taking care of another customer. Looking at what he had to sell, he found a decent omni-tool, and not too bad of a price, either.

"Ah, another human! Welcome to Morlan's famous shop! Many good things you will find here, yes? Anything you see catch your eye?" Anthony nodded and motioned toward the omni-tool. Morlan picked the small box up, bringing it over to the front of the counter. "Ah, very good choice, human. Kassa Fabrications Polaris. Not newest version out, but still very good. Excited to see what they might bring out soon. Their armor line is almost legendary. 'Colossus', they call it."

Anthony nodded and pulled his credit chit from his pocket, handing it over. Using his own omni-tool, Morlan scanned the chit, deducting the required credits from the account listed. Handing back the chit, he smiled. "Always appreciate new business. Would you be interested in my mailing list? New product coming in all the time. Can send notices to your extranet account." Anthony smiled and shook his head, taking the box from the counter.

"No, thank you, Morlan. Just picking up...a replacement. My last omni-tool shorted out, and I didn't want to wait to requisition a new one. You may be able to give me directions, though." Morlan looked up, nodding, hoping to make himself more memorable to the human, hoping to have his continued business whenever his ship came back to the Citadel. "I'm looking for a med clinic or a hospital nearby. I'd rather not have these damned gloves on every time I want to check the time or something."

The color from Morlan's face drained a slight bit, but he quickly recovered. "Oh, yes. Asking for hospital not typical request I get. Had me nervous. Upstairs one level, make left. Med clinic past the stairs to C-Sec." Anthony nodded and set off towards the clinic, not catching the look from Morlan as he left. _'Does he know? Maybe. Maybe he can stop all this.'_

AN: Ok, one more down! I think there should only be one more chapter here on the Citadel, and then the chase for Saren will begin. I plan on having each mission take up at least a chapter, maybe two, depending on how my muse feels. I've been getting a few messages congratulating me for doing a self-insert (which is kinda true, Anthony is loosely based off myself and people I know) where the insert character doesn't know everything that's going on. To me, those stories, while they can be good, are more of a pain to write, as well as just a cop-out. If I set it like this, then the team would just stay on the Citadel by the Conduit, and just wait for Saren to show up. Boo, no story in that. So for story purposes, this is a universe where the Mass Effect games never existed. Thanks again to all my reviewers. Also, I'm setting a goal for myself of releasing a chapter a week. Since I currently have a chapter buffer, I think I may be able to keep that up. Arbitrarily, I've decided to release on Fridays. Since I missed last Friday, you all get a bonus to help you remember that Mondays don't always suck. See you again on Friday!

Edit: Sorry, everyone. Forgot to put in the scene breaks. Won't happen again. _


	5. Saddle Up

Disclaimer: See Chapter I – Beginnings

"Speech"_  
>'Thoughts'<br>*Radio*  
>Messages/  
><em>

The Rift

Chapter V

Saddle Up

Anthony flexed his fingers a little as he sat up on the bed in the medical clinic on the citadel. The numbness was slowly fading, and the thin scars from the implants were barely visible. He stood and rubbed his fingertips against themselves, barely feeing the small bumps under his skin. The ten accelerometers were wirelessly connected to another set of implants in his wrists, which would connect to any computer terminal he sat at, sending the locations of his fingertips and receiving the feedback data, which would allow him to 'feel' the keys on the holographic keyboards that were so commonplace.

Walking over toward the desk he nodded appreciatively to the doctor, who was busy typing away at her terminal, filling out the last bit of her report of the procedure. "Dr. Michel, thank you. I didn't think it would be that simple of a procedure. Are they active yet, or do you have to do something else?" The doctor shook her head as she walked over to her desk.

"They are passive, actually. They have no power cells, but they receive signals from the computer they are operating. The very signals that communicate to the implants are what power them. That way, there is no chance for interference with your omni-tool. Here, give it a try." She turned the terminal on her desk toward him, opening up an extranet page. The keyboard appeared as he brought his hands into position. Shaking his head and thinking _'Well, here goes nothing'_, he started typing, pulling up the Systems Alliance extranet page. Every time a finger 'pressed' on a key, he felt a tingle in his fingertips, which surprisingly, actually felt a bit like pressing on a standard keyboard.

"Wow, that's not bad at all. Wish I could have gotten something like this sooner than now. I suppose I can put those gloves back in the supply room. How much do I owe you?" The doctor leaned over to her terminal, moving it back into position before pulling up his file. After checking a few numbers, she smiled up to him.

"Actually, nothing. The implants are covered by the Alliance for all of their military personnel. I'm surprised they never offered it to you." Anthony blinked and quickly tried to think up a good excuse, the door chime thankfully interrupting the conversation. "Oh...excuse me." Dr. Michel stood from her terminal, shutting it down before making her way towards the door. The moment the door opened as she approached, however, she screamed as three armed men burst into the clinic, her scream immediately being muffled by a hand over her mouth.

Hearing her scream, Anthony immediately took cover behind the partition between the entryway and the treatment area, hoping he wasn't seen. Reaching to his side, he pulled out the standard issue Kessler pistol he acquired from the armory on board the _Normandy_. Working his way further toward the back of the room, toward one of the beds there, he peeked up through the window into the entry room. The men were closing the door and securing it behind themselves, the one holding Dr. Michel whispering something into her ear, followed by her shaking her head quite forcefully. Ducking his head down again, he moved further toward the back of the room, taking cover behind the bed, staying out of sight.

"Alright, then, doctor...now that we have some alone time, we need to talk. About the quarian." Anthony brought up his arm, taking the chance to use his new omni-tool quickly before the orange glow of holographics gave him away. He typed out a quick message to the _Normandy_, having not gotten the chance to find out how Shepard programmed his own omni-tool for messages. _/Joker, relay to Shep/CSec. Sit in MedClinic. 3 hot, one civ. Bkup ASAP/_ Sending the message, he waited just long enough to get the message confirmation screen before powering it down, the glow winking out of existance.

"Fist thanks you for sending her his way. The data she has is very valuable to the right people. But from what he's heard, C-Sec is looking her way, too." He heard Dr. Michel whimper a little as the sound of another pistol unfolding. "So he just sent us here for a nice little social call. Make sure everything was on the up-and-up with her. Like the fact that, since you're a free clinic, you don't really keep many records, do you?" Dr. Michel answered quietly, and Anthony had to inch a little closer to the end of the bed to hear. Luckily, the three of them were still gathered around the desk.

"N-no, I...usually don't...but she was shot...I have the report still on my terminal...I was going to send it to C-Sec, but I didnt! She asked me not to!" Anthony took this chance to peek around the end of the bed. Dr. Michel was backed up against her desk, the three thugs facing her, full attention on the doctor. _'Amateurs...not even watching the door or looking for anyone else. Guess this 'Fist' guy doesn't hire them to think. And I thought people in the future were supposed to be smarter than-'_ He lost his train of thought as, through the window, he saw the door slide open silently, closing again only a moment later. It was quick enough that only one person might have slipped in.

_'Ok, good...someone else. Hope it's Shepard or someone from C-Sec. Four on one is not my idea for my first firefight in 174 years. Good thing I ignored Jessie and kept my target practice up.'_ Anthony's former girlfriend had never understood why he went to the gun range every month with his pistol. Trying to pull the last bit of military out of him had eventually been why he left her. Now was the time to prove to himself and her why he made sure to keep in practice. With a cry from the doctor, he watched as she was grabbed by the collar, pulled to the other side of the room and pushed into the partition. The thug started speaking again. "We heard that some C-Sec officer, Garrus something, was looking around for this quarian. Last time he was seen, he was tracking her down, asking if she had seen anyone or been anywhere. You sure you don't have something else to tell us?"

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" Dr. Michel started crying as she talked, now, afraid as the thug pushed the barrel of his pistol against her cheek. Anthony gripped the weapon in his hand tightly, getting ready to move at a moment's notice. He was content to let the other person make a move first, since whoever it was probably wasn't aware of his presence.

"That was smart, doc. Now, if Garrus comes asking around for her, are you going to stay smart?" Anthony watched as the door opened again, this time staying open, the thugs now facing the window, able to see whoever it was coming in. The leader's eyes went wide at whoever he saw, reaching forward and spinning Dr. Michel around, holding her with one arm while the other pointed his gun at the new intruder. "Who the fuck are you?"

From around the corner of the partition came another figure, a blur of blue suddenly stepping out. Anthony took this as his cue and stood as well, drawing a quick bead on the shoulder of the thug nearest him. Two shots rang out in almost perfect unison, the one holding the doctor getting the worst as a hole appeared in the back of his head. Dr. Michel cried out as the newly made corpse holding her slowly let go and slumped to the floor. The thug Anthony had aimed at let out a yell as well, his shoulder gaining a neat hole right though the joint, causing him to drop his weapon and fall to the floor in the shock of unexpected pain. Anthony looked into the eyes of the turian and nodded, the back of his mind recognizing him as the one who had given him directions. The turian nodded as well, both fighters now aiming at the lone thug. He looked back and forth between the three armed parties in the room before quickly throwing his gun down, raising his hands. "Woah, woah, I give up!"

The turian lowered his weapon, Anthony still keeping his gun raised until he was sure the guy wouldn't try anything. A quick shot to the temple from the turian, however, allayed those concerns, the punch knocking the man out cold before his body even hit the floor, sounding with a satisfying _thump_. The turin just looked down at the man, a vicious scowl on his...well, whatever passed for a mouth. "Good. I wouldn't want to have to get violent."

Anthony eased his stance a little, looking through the glass, seeing his shipmates standing just inside the door, Shepard's eyes widening in surprise as he noticed him. Relaxing fully, now, he pushed the button on the side of the pistol, letting it collapse into storage mode and fitting it to the side of his belt. Shepard then strode around the partition, holstering his own weapon. The turian spoke up, then, nodding appreciatively as Anthony walked his way over to the group. "Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a chance to get a clean shot at that bastard. I owe you one."

Shepard, however, wasn't as pleased with what had happened. "You were reckless. What the hell were you thinking? You could have hit the hostage!" He then turned to Anthony. "And Snyder, I seem to be getting into more and more trouble with you around. But...you did send the message, so I suppose it balances out. Nice shooting, by the way." Anthony smiled and nodded, saluting quickly. Shepard nodded back and turned his attention toward the turian.

"There wasn't time to think...I just reacted. I didn't mean to...Dr. Michel, are you alright?" The turian turned to the doctor, who was pulling her way up from the floor, having crouched next to her desk to try and keep out of the way. She looked toward the three bodies in her office, one dead and two down for the count.

"Y-yes...I think so. Thanks to all of you, at least." She gave a smile to all involved, reaching up and nervously rubbing her arm. She took a deep breath and looked around at her office once more. "I knew Fist was not someone to cross, but I never thought he would stoop to something like this." Shepard looked over to Williams.

"Fist? Isn't he the asshole that threw us out of Chora's Den for asking about Officer Vakarian, here?" At Ashley's nod, he looked back to the doctor. "Why would a bar owner send hired muscle to shake down a med clinic? Especially so close to C-Sec?" Dr. Michel sighed.

"I don't know. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker. I sent a quarian to him a few days ago. Someone had shot her, and she wanted to get help from the Broker. Aparently, she had some information that she thought was valuable enough for protection." Officer Vakarian shook his head.

"He's not an agent anymore. He betrayed the Shadow Broker. Apparently Saren made him quite the offer. You don't usually cross the Shadow Broker and live to tell about it." Dr. Michel looked shocked at this new information. "Dr. Michel, did the quarian say anything about what she had? If Saren wants it bad enough to kill for it, it may just be what we're all looking for." The doctor thought for a few moments, then looked up.

"Geth. She said her information had something to do with the Geth, but she wouldn't say anything else. But if it would have bought her protection from the Shadow Broker, it must have been big." Shepard and the turian both looked at each other for a moment, then Shepard looked towards Anthony.

"Snyder, double time back to the ship and pull some armor from the lockers. Meet us at Chora's Den. If we find anything before you get there, I'll radio you through your omni-tool. Joker gave me the address. Garrus, feel like crashing a party?"

"Always"

* * *

><p>Anthony exited the ship again, now fully suited up. Due to the close quarters that seemed to dominate most of the lower sections of the Citadel, he left the standard assault rifle and sniper rifle behind, keeping his pistol and picking up a shotgun. Both weapons were now attached to a suit of Mantis armor, again, some of the standard issue for the Alliance. The armor actually fit him a little better than his borrowed uniform, and though it was heavier, he was able to move a little quicker in it. The elevator couldn't go any slower, in his opinion, and as soon as he stepped out, his omni-tool lit up, Shepard's voice coming over the in-helmet radio.<p>

_*Snyder, location update!*_ Anthony tapped the command on his omni-tool as he ran, opening the secure channel to Shepard. "Just got suited up, sir. On my way to the Den. ETA, two minutes." He turned a corner, charging down another corridor. _*Negative. We've taken out Fist. He set up the quarian in a back alley down here, near the markets. It's a trap. We're on our way there now. I'm sending the location to your omni-tool and HUD. It should come up automatically. Go on the far side, we'll set up a cross-fire.*_

Anthony slowed for a moment as the information pulled itself up, a map of the Citadel level he was on superimposing itself over his vision. Markers indicted his position and that of the rest of the team. There was also a glowing point in one of the alleys not far from him, and he immediately started towards it. "I love this tech, sir. Damn motivating." Shepard chuckled over the radio. _*Copy that, Sergeant. Now haul ass to the alley.* _"Sir!" Anthony answered back, picking up the pace as he ran down the corridor toward the far end of the markets, most people moving aside as the armed and armored man moved with a purpose down the hall. He did have to dodge around some that didn't see him, though, ignoring the angry shouts as he ran by.

Getting to the alley, he stopped, pressing himself against the side of the wall just outside it, panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath. "Ok...new promise. Next time I get sent into the future, no more Taco Bell before." Almost a half minute later, he finally got himself to where he was confident his aim would be back to normal. He peeked around the corner of the alley, ducking back as he saw several figures, none of whom he recognized. Crouching and moving around the corner, he made his way slowly to a piece of piping that was sticking out of the wall, using it for cover. He saw figures moving at the far end of the alley, and from the silhouettes, three humans and a turian were now moving into position.

From a shadow, another figure stepped towards the group in the open. It was obviously female from the way the armor she wore covered her body, but her face was hidden behind an opaque visor. Anthony could only just make out two silvery glowing points through the glass-like material. She looked around nervously, her head bobbing slowly as she spoke, but it was too far away for Anthony to hear. The two spoke for a moment, before the quarian started to pull away. The two other people in the alley started moving towards the quarian, pulling pistols from their sides. Suddenly, there was a flash and bang as the quarian threw a grenade toward the other two advancing, Shepard's voice suddenly in his ear. _*NOW!*_

Both sides rose from their cover and started firing, all four humans making quick, precise shots with their weapons of choice. When one of the figures in white started to retreat from the larger group, a round suddenly shattered through his faceplate, Anthony looking over from the retreating thug as his now lifeless body fell to the ground, greyish blood starting to seep through the hole. The turian who was harassing the quarian also found himself soon on the floor, a pair of quick, successive shotgun blasts having put a nice hole into his chest. Each of the fighters kept their guard up, securing the area before slowly lowering their weapons. Slowly, they all made their way toward the middle of the alley, where the quarian was putting away her own pistol.

Alenko walked over to Anthony and placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling. "You did good, kid. Glad to see time away from the military hasn't thrown your aim." Anthony nodded and put his pistol back into it's storage spot on his armor. He then looked over toward Shepard and the quarian, her voice calling attention to herself, obviously pissed. The small light on the front of her helmet flashed just as angrily as her words.

"Damn that bosh'tet! He set me up!" She looked over to the humans surrounding her. Seeing that they had all put their weapons away, she did the same. "Thank you, human. I don't think I would have made it out of that if it wasn't for all of you." Shepard just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. We heard you were in trouble from Dr. Michel. She pointed us in the right direction. I'm Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance." Shepard stuck out his hand, which the quarian took and shook gently. "My team; Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Sargent Anthony Snyder. And this is Officer Garrus Vakarian, Citadel Security. We heard that you had some information that you were trying to sell to the Shadow Broker. Involving Spectre Saren Arterius and the geth?"

The quarian nodded. "A pleasure to meet you all. I am Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. And yes, I have something. Officer, I had heard your name spoken a few times. You were involved in the investigation into Saren. Had the Shadow Broker not been able to provide protection, I would have next sought you out. I suppose now, I can make good on that intention, as well as repay you all for saving my life."

Shepard nodded and stepped aside, offering the way with his arm. "Well, then, Miss Zorah, shall we head to the embassy? The human ambassador will love to hear this."

* * *

><p><em>*Eden Prime was a major victory. The Beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit.* *And one step closer to the return of the Reapers*<em>

The voices echoed throughout the Council chambers, the three counsellors looking back and forth between each other, shocked at hearing the voice of their top agent. Udina stepped forward, smug in his accusations, now. "You wanted proof? Well, there it is. Salvaged from a geth data core by the quarian you see before you." The turian counselor spoke up at this.

"The evidence humanity has brought forward is irrefutable. This council has decided to declare Saren a rogue agent. He is stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him to justice." Anthony leaned a little over towards Ashley, the two of them, as well as Kaiden and Garrus being a little further back on the dais, out of the direct spotlight of speaking to the council.

"Chief, is it just me, or do you get the impression that he doesn't like us very much?" Ashley nodded, keeping her voice low as well. Garrus chuckled a little, causing the three humans to look over to him. Garrus stepped forward a little, no longer leaning on the siderail of the council platform.

"Councilor Valern isn't exactly known for being very trusting. Let me know when he starts pulling his air quotes out on you. Pisses just about everyone off, even the other councillors sometimes." All three humans grinned at that, their attention being drawn back to the front as the asari councilor raised her voice at Udina, sounding quite stern and apparently focusing her voice on the human ambassador.

"That's enough, Ambassador. Now...I do believe there is another solution. One that would stop Saren, but not require fleets, or armies." At this, she looked to Councilor Valern rather pointedly. There must have been something thy were discussing before this meeting that might have been a solution. The turian councilor's eyes wided, and his voice was filled with indignation.

"No! It's too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibility of joining the Spectres." Anthony, Williams, Alenko, and Garrus all exchanged surprised looks at hearing that. Shepard spoke up a moment later.

"You won't have to send your fleet in against Saren, and the ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everyone wins." The councilors looked between themselves again, the asari and salarian nodding in agreement, the turian eventually giving in as well. All three activated their consoles, the asari speaking now.

"Lieutenant Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance. Step forward." Shepard did so, Udina and Anderson both taking a step back, leaving Shepard in the spotlight at the head of the dais. The diplomats and few journalists who were allowed entry into the council chambers started to crowd around on the upper levels of the room, all looking towards the proceedings in the middle. The Councilors began speaking in turn, a speech they must have rehearsed and spoken many times, full of ceremony.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted al the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file." Anthony quickly brought up his omni-tool, holding it up, but still out of sight, starting to record the speech. _'Hell, how many times are you going to see someone made a Spectre?'_

"Spectres are an ideal. A symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council. Instruments of our will."

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

Shepard stood a little taller at this praise, standing at parade rest to the council. Giving a small bow of his head, he spoke solemnly. "I am honored, Councillor." The salarian then spoke up again, speaking now more directly to Shepard than just out loud as part of ceremony.

"Spectre, we're sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." Shepard nodded to the councilor as Anthony turned toward Garrus, looking confused for a moment.

"Did he say eliminate? He's giving Shepard permission to just off him if he has to?" Garrus looked at Anthony a little strangely, but didn't think much of it. Humanity was still young in the galaxy, and not knowing the full powers of the Spectres wasn't too odd. He nodded, his voice quiet.

"Shepard answers directly to the Council, now. The laws of Citadel Space no longer apply for him. He can do almost anything he wants, just say 'I'm a Spectre', and walk away, and nobody can do a damn thing about it. I don't agree completely with it, but they sure get results." Anthony nodded and turned off his omni-tool as Shepard, Udina, and Anderson stepped back from the end of the dais, the council walking off their stage as well. The three humans stood at attention as Shepard approached, all three pulling off synchronized salutes as he stepped close. Alenko spoke up.

"Congratulations, Commander. Appointment to the Spectres is huge." Shepard returned the salute, and when he released it, he offered his hand forward, which Alenko took. He then shook hands with each of the others present.

"For something this big, I would usually offer a round for everyone, but at the moment, I'd say we have some more important things to think about. Anyone take offense to a rain-check on that? I'll owe you all one when I get done with this." At grins and head shakes from everyone, Shepard turned to Udina.

"Shepard, now that you're a Spectre, you're going to be needing a few things. They usually operate alone, but since Saren seems to have his sights set on humanity, the Alliance is going to still support you. Anderson, come with me. We have a few calls to make. The rest of you can meet us back at the _Normandy_ in two hours." They all watched as Udina and Anderson walked off, talking quite animatedly about whatever Udina's plan was.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, the group of six made their way toward the docking bays, Anthony hanging in the back, having made quick friends with Tali'Zorah, both of them being the closest in age. Anthony looked over to his new friend, trying to work something out in his head as he spoke. "So, your people all leave the flotilla when you come of age, and you don't return without something of value to add to the whole group?" Tali nodded at that.<p>

"That's it, more or less. Anything that makes our lives a little easier to maintain are the best gifts for a prospective captain. A new ship for the fleet is usually too far out of the range of what most quarians can manage on Pilgrimage, but a few even bring those. The Conclave appoints a new captain for that. Most gifts are simply technology or information. Things like hydroponics schematics, new power sources or refining techniques that we can reverse engineer." Tali smiled behind her visor at the human. He was certainly curious, but she could tell it was genuine. "How about your kind? Do humans have anything like that?" Anthony chuckled and shook his head.

"No. The closest we get to that is when parents kick their kids out of the house. Most of the time they don't want them to come back, much less with gifts to accept them back. They see it as a bribe. Humans are much more solitary. Whole houses and apartments to themselves, or them and their mates." Tali looked shocked at that, shaking her head, not sure if she would ever really understand humans. As the group stepped out of the elevator to the docks, they all saw Udina and Anderson standing outside of the docking ramp to the _Normandy._Udina spoke first.

"I've got big news for you, Shepard. A Spectre answers to the Council first and foremost, even though you're still human, and an Alliance officer. So Captain Anderson is stepping down. You're the _Normandy's_ new CO." The entire group, especially the humans, looked shocked at the news. Anderson had gone out of his way for each of them, and now he was stepping down? Shepard made his uneasiness known.

"Sir, with all due respect, and I think I speak for the entire team here, this isn't right. The _Normandy_ is yours, Captain. I can't take her from you." Anderson shook his head, raising his hands to put Shepard at ease.

"Commander, the ambassador's right. You need to be operating independently. You can't take orders from both me AND the Council. You have my support with this, too. I doubt you were going to be an XO for much longer anyway, no matter where your next posting would have been. And the _Normandy_ is fast and quiet. Perfect ship for a Spectre." Shepard nodded softly and saluted Anderson, who instead of returning the salute, simply held out his hand. Shepard hesitated for a moment, then relaxed, taking the offered hand and giving a firm shake.

"I won't let you down, Captain. I'll take good care of her." Anderson nodded and released the handshake, walking past the small group, stepping aside from the elevator as a very large alien stepped onto the dock. The hulking mass walked up to Shepard, standing in front of him. Shepard grinned. "Wrex. Good to see you made it through C-Sec with no problems. After your help in the bar with Fist, I figured we could use another heavy hitter on this mission. And a krogan hits about as hard as they come." Wrex gave a laugh.

"Shepard, you fight well. And when you sent that message saying you were going after Saren, I just couldn't refuse. Going up after the top ex-Spectre in the galaxy. You think like a krogan, sometimes. You should have seen the face on the C-Sec guards when they got the message that a Spectre had cleared me through. Priceless." Wrex pounded his fist into his hand. "Would have been more fun if they didn't want me up here, though."

Shepard just shook his head with mirth. "Glad to have you on board. Alright, everyone. Saren's got a good lead on us. Let's move out." Everyone nodded, the humans giving a sharp salute to their new CO, and started filing into the ship. Udina spoke up again to Shepard.

"Commander, Anderson and I have forwarded the few leads we have to your terminal. Godspeed, Shepard. I only ask you try not to make too much trouble out there. Remember, you represent humanity, which means ultimately, I have to clean up any large messes you make." Shepard just nodded, turning to his ship and joining the rest of his crew.

Anthony went below with the rest of the crew, setting the armor back into his locker before making his way back up to the medbay, checking in with Dr. Chakwas. She looked over to her apprentice and smiled as he set the box from his omni-tool and the computer interface gloves back on the small desk in the back room. "Well, from what I've heard, everyone was quite busy while on the Citadel." Anthony just nodded, letting out a deep breath.

"Well, doctor, I suppose 'busy' is as good a word as any to describe it." He was about to continue, but the ship's intercom interrupted him. Shepard's voice carried throughout the ship.

_*Listen up, Normandy. This is your commander speaking. We have our orders. Find Saren before he finds the Conduit. And I refuse to let anything get in the way of that mission. We all know what happened on Eden Prime. We saw the destruction, we saw the bodies. We saw what Saren did. And I plan to make him pay. For too long, our species has stood apart from the others. Now its time for us to step up and do our part for the galaxy. Time to show them all what humans are made of! Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we'll be there. We will track him to the very ends of the galaxy and hunt him down. This is the most important mission any of us have ever been on. The fate of an entire galaxy is at stake. We will stop Saren, no matter what the cost!*_

Anthony and Chakwas looked at each other once the intercom cut out, feeling the small jolt as the magnetic moorings were released, the ship flying free once again. Anthony sighed and looked around, taking a seat on the edge of one of the beds in the medbay. His voice was a bit somber as he spoke next, the only words he could think appropriate at the moment.

"Yippie-kai-yay..."

AN: Wow, where the hell did all that come from? I think that's one of the good things about having an overactive imagination. I started this chapter this morning, and it is now 2pm. It just wouldn't stop pouring out. It seems my muse is as in love with the story as you all are. I skipped the scenes that I did mostly for simplicity. Anthony getting suited up was skipped because that's the way it happened in my head. Think about watching a tv show. When you go to commercial, sometimes, people can go from planning an attack to moments before it. The meeting in the embassy was skipped as well because, in my opinion, it stated information that would have just been put out again right after in the Council meeting, anyway. Other than that, it was more of an introduction to Tali and quarians, which I plan Anthony to be making on his own, anyway.

As for a little of how my mind works, here's the plan so far. Main story missions will be split into two chapters. Side missions that get done will have their own chapters. I'll be going aside from cannon on some of them, taking bits and pieces and placing them into main missions where I think they make sense. All in all, I'm thinking about 15 chapters for this game. Two will obviously be much longer. Anyway, keep reading and reviewing, everyone. Knowing that people are out there that love this is what inspires me to write like the demon I am. See you next Friday!

Post-upload edit: Again, sorry about the scene breaks. I made new ones when I'm writing that I thought would carry over. Apparently not.


	6. Learning the Ropes

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter VI

Learning the Ropes

Shepard and his 'ground team', as he called them, sat in the briefing room, images of three planets on the screen. Each team member had a datapad with details from each planet and the leads that had been gathered. Shepard pointed to each image as he spoke, laying out the leads Anderson and Udina had forwarded to the _Normandy_. "Noveria. One of the coldest planets in the galaxy that is still even remotely habitable. From Udina and Anderson's report, there have been some geth sightings in the system. Given that it's an independent research world, Saren could be doing just about anything there. Feros. More geth reports from the colony of Zhu's Hope, just before all contact with them was lost. And Therum, a barely-known world in the Artemis Tau cluster. Matriarch Benezia, from the recording? She has a daughter who is supposed to be an absolute expert on the Protheans. She is on a dig somewhere on the planet. Floors open for suggestions, people."

Everyone looked back and forth for a few moments, silent, before Alenko spoke up. "The colony on Feros. It says that they had fortified themselves against the geth, and that, aside from some minor supply problems, that they were more or less holding their own. Noveria has more red tape going through it than a post office. But a Prothean expert? How would she help?"

Anthony spoke up now, looking through the basic bio on Dr. T'soni. "First off, sir, she's Benezia's daughter. Having her along might help avoid a firefight if we encounter her mom. Or at least be enough of a surprise that it could make her hesitate. At least, if she's not working WITH her mom." Shepard nodded in agreement, Kaiden sitting back in his chair.

"And second, if the Reapers are the ones that wiped out the Protheans, she might actually have some good intel on them. I mean, if my species was going extinct, I'd sure as hell find out as much about who was killing us as I could." The entire group nodded, and silence reigned for a moment. Wrex then spoke up.

"Find out more about your enemy so you can kill it faster. I like it. As long as I get to blow something up, it's got my vote." Shepard looked over towards Wrex, almost afraid to disappoint the krogan about his dreams of destruction.

"Actually, Wrex, T'soni is in a Prothean ruin. I don't think we'll be doing too much of the whole exploding things down there." Wrex just growled quietly to himself, but sat back in his chair. Shepard looked around the room. "Alright, everyone. To your stations. Snyder, stay for a moment?"

Everyone stood and filed out of the room, Anthony standing at parade rest until Shepard spoke up. "At ease, Anthony. How is your training going with Dr. Chakwas? She said you have a pretty solid base on the theory behind everything so far, aside from xenobiology." Anthony nodded, relaxing a bit more.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" At Shepards nod, he continued. "I was a damn good medic back in my time, Commander...but this is kicking my ass." Shepard laughed at that. "I mean, all the stuff I know about humans hasn't really changed, except for biotics. But the second I saw a diagram of krogan internal organs, I just kinda spaced out. Asari and turians aren't too tough, really. Quarians are pretty close to us, as well, other than the fact that their immune systems are shot to hell. That's where I'm concentrating for the moment, given our current crew." Shepard thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Well, I can't fault your logic. When we get to Therum, though, you're coming down with the team." Anthony blinked and was about to speak when Shepard raised his hand. "Not as a medic, as an extra gun. I saw back on the Citadel that you prefer a pistol. That's fine, but not good enough for me or this mission. I want everyone as proficient with as many weapons as we can. So we're going to drop in the Mako as close to the ruins we can get, and while Ash, Wrex, and I go and get the good doctor, Kaiden is going to take you to get some target practice." Anthony nodded and grinned.

"Sounds good, sir. Might be a bit of a tight squeeze, though. Especially if Wrex is coming." Shepard nodded to that, still trying to figure out how to fit everyone. "I was a decent shot with a carbine-style weapon, but one of my specialties was with a sniper rifle, when I first was a Marine. Qualified as expert marksman. Not much room for more than one in a group of medics, though, so the guy that beat me out by a shot took the spot."

Shepard nodded at this, looking impressed. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting it, but with the way you shoot a pistol, it doesn't surprise me. And that was back then. I'm almost afraid to put anything long range in your hands." Anthony smiled and shook his head.

"You would never have to worry, sir. I only put rounds downrange when I know I have a clear line of fire." Shepard shook his head, grinning as he lead the sergeant out of the briefing room.

"No, Anthony, I'm not worried about friendly fire. I'm more worried you'd beat MY scores." Both soldiers shared a laugh.

* * *

><p>A red light blared as the semi-translucent hologram on the bed in front of him suddenly disappeared. Anthony sighed and lowered his omni-tool, taking a seat on the bench behind him. He looked over to Dr. Chakwas, his expression blank as he spoke. "You know, that one wasn't even fair. I doubt a quarian's immune system is THAT bad." It was two days after the ship left the Citadel, his third day of training with the doctor, and his first of 'practical evaluations', as she called it. Medical hologram dummies were projected onto a bed, controlled from the terminal across the room by Dr. Chakwas, for Anthony to 'heal'. Dr. Chakwas stood and walked over.<p>

"You're right, they're not. But you missed something." At Anthony's questioning look, she continued, using the remote terminal at the bedside to call up the hologram again. "Take a closer look toward the right leg, slightly distal from the hip, anterior side." Anthony looked, and sure enough, on the leg, just below the hips and towards the front, there was what appeared to be a small tear in the outer suit, far away from the much larger tear in the upper arm. "While you took care of the wound and suit breach on the arm, a piece of shrapnel there caused systemic shock from blood loss and infection." Anthony shot a death glare at the doctor, pointing to the small hole.

"Come on! Anyone could have missed that! I'm sure if you hadn't have programmed it in, YOU would have missed it." Dr. Chakwas shot a glare right back, only hers had much more practice than his, and Anthony actually shrank away a little.

"If you think that is going to get you out of it, you're dead wrong, mister. Commander Shepard has you on here for a reason. To make sure that HIS team doesn't die out in the field before they can get back HERE to ME." Anthony swallowed hard as he was stared down. "He's a Spectre, now, and while that may not mean something to someone from your time, to us it's a very big deal. You've been thrust into this situation with no idea what the hell you're doing. You can NOT afford to be overconfident. I'm sure that even in your time, there was a saying something along the lines of 'the most dangerous wound is the one you don't see'?"

Anthony nodded slightly, the line pulling up the memories from boot camp; the basic first aid every marine was taught, and the much more intensive training he received to be qualified as a field medic, his instructors all saying that very phrase. "Yes, M'am, they did." He shared a much more friendly relationship with the doctor, but there were times where her demeanor demanded respect and obedience, and his training fell squarely into line every time. With a curt nod, she turned back and walked over to her terminal. "Again."

Another hologram, that of a human, appeared on the table. Anthony sighed and opened his omni-tool, again, the holographic interface springing into life as he set to work. _'Ok, Helen...how are you going to piss me off this time?'_

* * *

><p>An hour later, Anthony finally made his way out of the medbay and into the mess, taking a seat at one of the tables. Leaning his head back and staring at the deck above him, he closed his eyes. <em>'0830 and I already feel like this. Fan-fucking-tastic' <em>A minute later, he smelled the familiar aroma of what he had always dubbed 'mess sludge', whatever particular brand of coffee used in a mess hall that had been sitting in a pot all day. He opened his eyes and looked down to see a cup sitting in front of him, the ship's new engineer taking her own seat next to him. "I've seen you drinking that a few times before. You looked better afterwards, so I thought I'd help."

Anthony smiled at Tali, nodding and reaching forward, picking up the cup before it's contents managed to eat through the ceramic. "Thanks, Tali." He took a sip and winced softly, shaking his head as the caffeine-rich lifeblood ran down his throat, assaulting his taste buds on the way down. "Well...it's good to know that at least some things never change..." He put the cup back down on the table. He looked over to Tali, who was watching him with a small amount of fascination. She nodded towards the cup as she spoke.

"I take it that 'coffee' works better than stims? I see many people on board drinking it, and it seems to wake them up almost immediately." She took a small tube from one of the many pockets in her suit, attaching it to a small port on the side of her helmet. A moment later, Anthony could have sworn he heard light slurping sounds from behind her visor, as if she were sucking the contents through a straw. When he didn't realize he was staring, she looked to him a little more confused, and he could almost swear she was blushing. "W-what? Do I have something on my visor?"

Anthony shook his head. "Sorry...you're the first quarian I've ever met, is all. I wasn't expecting that was how your people ate. Umm...yeah, it works very well for making someone alert. Mostly because it tastes so bad. It forces you to be alert so you can properly appreciate what it does to your tongue." Tali giggled softly at that before another voice made it's presence known.

"I don't know about that, sergeant." Anthony and Tali both looked up, seeing Kaiden walking over to take his own place at the table. "I like to think I make a pretty decent cup. Never use military rationed beans, anymore, though. I remember that crap you're drinking. Tali, I'd bet you could probibly substitute that for the eezo in the core. Hell, we might even get a performance boost."

Anthony grinned. "LT, I think you're right about that. From what I've seen so far of element zero, I'd say some of this here swill would be in the running. Grade-A, high test rocket fuel." Anthony lifted the cup reverently as he spoke, taking another gulp as the last word left his lips, Kaiden looking on and fighting a smile, Tali watching him even more curiously. Another shudder later and Anthony stood. "Allright. I'll see you all later. I'm going to go knock Saren on his ass."

"Snyder, good to see the doc's tender mercies haven't hurt your confidence." Anthony winced for a different reason, now, turning and looking at his commanding officer. Before he could salute, though, Shepard shook his head, holding a hand up. "No need just now...graveyard shift is still on for another ten minutes, so for the moment, nobody here is on duty. Although, I think I may need to talk to Dr. Chakwas. I specifically asked her to knock you down a peg. She's getting out of practice." Anthony shook his head as he sat once more, finishing the last bit of coffee in the mug.

"No, sir, she isn't. She's been beating the hell out of me in that medbay for the last two hours. Believe me, sir, I don't think I have any pegs left." Throughout the exchange, Tali just watched the three humans, trying for the life of her to figure out just what the hell everyone was talking about. She spoke up nervously.

"A-alright, I think I followed most of that...but 'knocking someone down a peg'? I don't think I've ever heard that before, in any language." The three humans laughed for a moment, before Anthony tried to explain the saying to his friend.

"Tali, I suppose the easiest way to explain it is to take someone who is overconfident in their abilities and forcefully show their inadequacies. I didn't think I would have any problems with my medical skills. Dr. Chakwas proved that I still have a lot to learn." Tali nodded as she ejected the last tube of her nutrient paste, putting the empty tubes back into the pocket she pulled them from.

"Well, I should get down to engineering. Engineer Adams is showing me a bit more of the drive core, today." The three humans aid their goodbyes as Tali made her way from the mess area and around the corner of the corridor to the elevator. Shepard checked the time on his omni-tool.

"Well, you two better start getting ready. We hit Therum in three hours. Alenko, give Snyder a workout with that sniper rifle of his." Kaiden nodded and stood as Shepard moved off, looking toward Anthony.

"Well, you heard the commander. Let's get suited up. And you're bringing a full compliment, this time, no leaving things behind. It worked out, but even if you never use a weapon on an engagement, it's there if you need it." Anthony sighed and nodded as he stood as well.

"I was going more for what I knew, LT. I'm just lucky the Req officer was down here to point me to which metal oval was which. I mean, I get it, it saves space and looks cool doing it, but shouldn't there be a colored line on the grip, or something, to show what's what?" Kaiden stopped his stride and looked over.

"Actually...that's not that bad an idea. We'll talk to the Chief when she gets back from her planning session with the ground team." The two started their way into the elevator, heading down to the hold where the armor and weapons lockers were kept, an additional one hastily put together for Anthony. As they opened the lockers, pulling out the armor suits and weapons sytems, Anthony turned to Kaiden.

"Hey, LT...how do these weapons work, again? I keep catching myself looking around for a magazine release." Kaiden pulled out his own pistol, hitting the button to expand it. He pointed into Anthony's locker, motioning for him to take out his own sidearm, which he did, expanding it as well.

"Alright, Ash would probably be the better one to tell you the tech behind it, but I'll try to give you a broken down version. These are basically miniature mass accelerators. A small amount of eezo is in every weapon, just enough for it to function." Kaiden then pointed to a spot just below the barrel, in the very top of the grip. "Power packs supply the charge. In the grip is a metal alloy block. Every time you pull the trigger, a small chip is shaved off the block and put through the mass accelerator. After that, it all works like an old-style bullet." Anthony nodded, checking his own weapons, more just giving them a once-over to make sure nothing _looked_ off. _'Then again, I've never seen anything like this before the other day...who's to say what looks right or not?'_

An hour later, Anthony and Kaiden had finished up on their weapons, setting them all on the worktable, moving on to their armor. Pulling out the large metal pieces, they started once more to inspect them, making sure the interior electronics of each part were in working order, including the kinetic barrier generators, medigel access ports, and environmental controls. As they both started to put on the armor over their shipwear, Anthony looked over again. "LT, if we're just going down for target practice, why the armor? I mean, I've never heard of a ricochet coming back off a sniper rifle before." Alenko nodded as he pull on the legs, clamping the halves together, the pieces forming a vacuum tight seal.

"You never looked at the environment part of the briefing on Therum, did you?" At Anthony's look of confusion, he continued. "Therum is a volcanically active planet. Open pools of molten sulphur are all over the place. Plus, the atmosphere, while not toxic, isn't exactly like a breath of fresh air. So the whole team is going down in hardsuits to keep from cooking in their boots. Plus, it never hurts to be prepared, does it?" Anthony shook his head and pulled the chest piece over his head, hitting the button on the side that caused the armor to constrict around his chest and torso, locking into the legs as they did. Pulling on each arm piece and locking them in as well, all that was left were gloves and helmets. Tucking their helmets under their arms, they pulled the gloves on as they walked over to the Mako, they turned their heads as the elevator from the upper decks opened, revealing John, Wrex, and Ashley, each of them already suited up.

"Alright, then. One express ride to Therum. Everybody in and strap up. Joker should be just about ready on approach." Anthony looked a little more confused. _'Wait...he's not landing? Then how are we getting down?'_ Ashley saw his confusion and smiled, walking over and patting him on the back.

"Hey, Snyder...you ever use a parachute?" Anthony blinked and nodded, looking over towards the Mako. Ashley's smile turned into an evil grin as she spoke next. "Good...because this is nothing like that." Turning, she pulled him towards the hatch. "Hey, Wrex, give him a good seat. First timer" The krogan chuckled to himself and moved aside, taking the slightly smaller gunner's seat, allowing Anthony the seat next to Shepard.

As he climbed in, he watched the few people in the cargo hold move towards the elevator, which closed behind them as they entered. Ashley climbed in and pulled her own helmet on before sealing the hatch. A few moments later, the loading ramp opened, exposing the inside of the bay to the atmosphere. _'Wait a second...'_ Anthony strapped himself in quickly, pulling his own helmet on. Once everyone was secure, there was a sudden lurch as Shepard gunned the throttle, the APC shooting forwards and towards the edge. Anthony only had time for a single thought before the light tank shot off the loading ramp and entered free fall.

_'Oh, fuuuUUUUUCCKK!'_


	7. Is There A Doctor In The House?

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter VII

Is There A Doctor In The House?

The Mako slowly rolled to a stop on the surface of Therum, a small cloud of dust from the braking thrusters slowly settling back down. The hatch opened and the sound of light laughter from the APC's occupants became one of the only things to be heard aside from the bubbling pool of molten sulphur a mere ten meters away. Ashley climbed out, still chuckling as Anthony pulled himself out afterwards, going down on all fours, resting his helmeted head on the solid ground beneath him. He could feel his heart beating rapidly in his ears, closing his eyes to try and suppress the feeling of falling a solid three hundred meters out of a speeding spaceship while strapped into what was equivalent to a flying brick.

Shepard leaned over to peer out of the hatch, smirking at Anthony. "Oh, come on, Snyder! It's not that bad!" Anthony slowly opened his eyes and raised his head, looking to the side towards the Mako and Shepard.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" At Shepard's nod, he waited a moment, his stomach finally catching up to them. He sat up, pulling himself to his feet as John ducked away from the hatch to let Kaiden out and Ash back in. Anthony turned to face the hatch as Shepard's head appeared again. "Shepard, CO or not, try something like that without warning me again, and I WILL force myself to vomit in your lap." The squad was silent for a moment before Shepard's laughter rang clear.

"I'll make sure to remember that, Snyder. Thanks for the heads up. Oh, and I want to make one thing clear, now that Anthony reminds me. I never want to hear his request again. Standing order on this op is for EVERYONE to speak freely. I want honest opinions on things, people. Keep it professional, but open." At the squad's nod of acceptance, Shepard leaned over, grabbing the hatch. "Alright, Alenko, the FNG(1) is all yours. Don't kill him, and don't cheat. I want to see how his skills are outside his comfort zone." Kaiden Nodded and threw a salute as Shepard pulled the hatch closed, the tires spinning for a moment before they found grip, the Mako taking off towards the distance.

"Damnit...I'm tired of being the FNG again..." Anthony sighed as he relaxed a bit once the silence fell upon them again. Alenko just chuckled as he looked around for something to use as decent target practice. Finding nothing special, he concentrated, a small aura of blue dark energy surrounding him, before reaching forward, using the hand movements ingrained in him associated with the 'lift' ability, focusing it ahead of him. Several small rocks, each about the size of a baseball, slowly floated off the ground. Kaiden pulled his hand towards himself and the small rocks floated towards him, gathering together in a small rough pile. Anthony watched the whole display, speechless for a moment at the demonstration of biotics. "Holy shit...LT, that's incredible!" Kaiden smiled and shook his head.

"Hell, that's nothing. I've seen some biotics that can practically create a mini black hole. Only lasts a few seconds, but nothing's going to help you if you're in it's path." Anthony just nodded, still amazed at the idea of biotics. "Anyway, these are for later, for your sniper rifle. Right now, I want you to pull out that Avenger you've got strapped up and we'll see how you do with that." Anthony nodded again and reached back, the assault rifle unfolding enough for him to grab it, finally unfurling completely as he brought it around in front of himself, holding it across his chest, barrel down.

"Alright, now I told Joker to push this to your omni-tool through the ship's com network before we left. It should be accessible through a combat applications menu. It's a training program. See if you can find it." Anthony brought his left arm up, activating his omni-tool. He scrolled through the holographic menus until he found what Kaiden was talking about. Activating the program, a holographic figure appeared a few meters in front of the pair. Kaiden nodded approvingly. "Good. That is a training holo. Since we don't have the matching weapons to go with it, Shepard and Williams didn't think it would be a good idea putting you through your paces in the cargo bay. But this will recognize your shots and keep score. Now, whenever you're ready, let's see what you can do.

Anthony brought the assault rifle to bear on the holographic target, getting his aim sighted in before pulling the trigger. A short, controlled burst of five rounds erupted from the barrel, walking slowly up the target, the first hitting center mass, the following shots marching upwards, the last two missing over the shoulder entirely. The three green areas on the hologram faded back to pale orange. Anthony lowered the weapon once more. "Shit! This fucker has some kick to it! And it weighs almost nothing..."

Kaiden looked over curiously. "I take it, then, that the weapons you're used to weighed more than these?" Anthony nodded, giving another heft of the rifle with both hands, trying to accurately determine it's balance.

"LT, this weighs about half what I'm used to. The M16A2 assault rifle that I qualified with was an even 4 kilos, loaded, no attachments. So I'm used to having a little bit more weight holding back the recoil. Just a sec." Anthony sighted again, taking a moment, then let off another five round burst. This time, he held the weapon with a little bit of a tighter grip, keeping the barrel from wandering a bit more. The hologram gained a small green patch in the center of it's chest. Kaiden grinned.

"Oh, that's much better. Just keep that recoil in mind and you'll do fine with that. Alright, next up, sniper time." Alenko had just leaned down to pick up some of the rocks when their radios crackled to life. _*Shepard to Alenko and Snyder, come in!* _Kaiden looked up, a little confused. Raising his hand up to his helmet, he answered. "Go ahead, Shepard. We read you." _*Kaiden, we've got geth crawling all over the place over here. Wrex and I are pinned down by snipers, and we cant get the Mako in here. Ash is on her way to pick you both up. Time to put your money where your mouth is, Anthony.*_

Anthony nodded, answering as well. "Copy that, Commander. Just don't feel bad if I don't leave any left for you." _*Sargent, how about you get your ass over here and prove it? Ash should be getting back to you by now.*_ Anthony looked up and saw the Mako in the distance, closing in on them fast. "A-firm, Commander. She's almost here. See you in a minute, Shepard."

* * *

><p>"Alright, we're getting close. They're just around that ridge over there." Ash was at the controls of the Mako, driving Anthony and Kaiden back towards Shepard's position. Anthony looked up through the viewport in front of him, trying to judge distances. The path turned a corner around the ridge, looking like it turned into a thin canyon choke point. Anthony thought a moment, then turned to Ashley.<p>

"Hey, Chief...this thing has shields, right?" At her nod, he smiled. "Stop just short of the ridge, then. I've got an idea." Both Ash and Kaiden looked at him a little strangely, but at the confident look he wore, they decided to give him a chance. Ash slowed to a stop a few meters before the ridge line, turning expectantly to Anthony, only to see him already climbing out of the hatch. "I'll let you know what to do through the radio. I'm going to need you to trust me on this one." He closed the hatch again before she could answer.

Anthony took a deep breath and put one hand on the rear tire of the Mako. _'Here's hoping this works...'_ He then took a grip and started to pull himself up. Once he was atop the APC, he walked over to the front, reaching behind his right shoulder, pulling out the Avenger sniper rifle from it's storage spot. Laying down on his stomach, he inched his way to the very front of the Mako, reaching to his helmet and opening the radio so he wouldn't have to keep his hand there to keep it active. "Alright, Chief. Put the shields up and ease forward. I'm laying right above the nose." Ash's reply was a little confused. _*But we can't get far enough forward for the cannon to get a line of fire, and that's the only thing that __can get through the shields.* _Anthony smirked. "If I'm thinking right when it comes to mass effect fields, that's just from outside, Chief. Trust me." A moment later, the nose of the Mako moved forward just enough to let his view clear the ridge. About 20 meters ahead, he could see Shepard and Wrex taking cover behind a large boulder. Small explosions of stone and dust pockmarked the boulder and the ground past the two taking cover. Anthony pulled the scope to his eye and sighted past his teammates. _'So, THAT'S what a geth looks like up close. Perfect. That flashlight bit makes the perfect target...'_ Zooming in further, he took a bead on one of the geth snipers. _'Ok...breathe...steady aim...in. Out. In. Out. In and hold and...'_ *******BOOM*******

A deep thunderous sound emitted from the end of Anthony's rifle. A split second later, the head of the geth he was aiming for practically exploded from the force of the round hitting it. He gave an evil grin. "Physics in action, bitches!" Anthony looked down the scope again, scanning the far cliff for another sniper, jumping only slightly as the shields started taking a few hits. "Chief, pull us back if the shields go down. Commander, did you or Wrex get a chance to see how many were up there?" Anthony heard Ash's voice across the radio. _*I can answer that. I'm just barely able to make them out on the radar. Some kind of jamming. Looks like two more. And Snyder, how the HELL did you do that?*_ Anthony smiled as he stared down the scope, finding another of the snipers.

"Simple. The rifle uses a mass effect field, right? To accelerate the round. Shields are mass effect fields, too, from what I read. Mass **raising** fields. Firing the rifle..." *******BOOM***** **"...from within the field means the round has it's mass raised, too. A paint chip going fast enough can be a bullet...so..." He paused in his explination again as he sighted down the last sniper, Shepard finishing his sentence for him. _*So the mass effect field from the shields turns a paint chip into a softball moving at 800 meters a second.* _*******BOOM***** **Anthony grinned as he hauled himself to his feet and hopping down from the Mako, landing in a bit of a crouch. "Exactly, Commander."

The radio was silent for a few moments, before Ash's voice could be barely heard, muttering quietly. _*...how the hell did nobody else ever think of that..?*_

* * *

><p>The team of now five made their way down into the ruins, all of them a little worn out, and Anthony having a whole new respect for the superior firepower of the Mako. As they neared the entrance to the ruins, a geth dropship had come in, dropping down a huge walking tank they called a 'colossus'. Thankfully, they had been able to use the Mako's boost rockets to bring it with them, and a few shots from the main cannon had reduced the geth creation to scrap, pushing it back into a pool of molten sulphur behind it.<p>

Stepping from the entrance tunnel and into the caverns properly, all five took a moment to look around. The catwalks that have been put in looking almost like a defilement to the natural space. At the far end, however, was something even stranger. A wall, stretching up through the ceiling of the cave, and further downwards out of sight. Evenly spaced down the wall were openings, all of which shone light blue from some kind of energy barrier.

Shepard looked around the cavern as the team walked towards the wall, and the elevator that could be seen at the far end. "Something tells me that those geth outside aren't the only ones here...stay frosty, people." Not waiting for an answer, John pulled out his assault rifle once again. Taking point, the four humans started leapfrogging themselves down the catwalks. Wrex just shook his head as he walked as well, pulling out his shotgun, ignoring the squad movements and just marching down the corridor.

"Shepard, sometimes you think like a krogan. Right now, though, you're just being stupid." The rest of the squad watched the krogan just stroll past them and to the elevator. He turned to face them, holding up his arms. "Nothing here. They're all probibly down there." Wrex reached over the railing a little, pointing downwards into the darkness. Shepard sighed as he stood, lowering his rifle as he walked over.

"Wrex...you've been doing this since probably before any of us were alive." After a moment's thought, he added. "Aside from Snyder here, maybe, but he cheated." Anthony grumbled quietly under his breath, giving John the finger behind his back, pulling a chuckle from Ashley. "But on this mission, I'm in charge. I may value people's opinions, but we do things MY way, and we do it like that for a reason. I saw too many people go down on Elysium. I've already lost two people. I'm NOT losing any more."

Wrex just let out a low rumbling noise, not saying anything as he stepped into the elevator. The rest of the team followed him in, Anthony being last one in, hitting the button on the wall to send the team further downwards. The elevator started moving quickly down, everyone still being a bit more on edge. Shepard gave another sidelong glance at Wrex as they descended.

About a minute later, they all got a bit of a shock as the elevator came to a screeching halt. A tense moment passed before the platform gave a bit of a lurch downwards, finally locking in place a few feet above the lower catwalk. As they each raised weapons in case of another attack, they heard a voice nearby, although it sounded a bit distorted. "Hello? Is someone out there?"

Everyone froze at that, crouching down in the elevator. Shepard looked over to Anthony, hoping that military hand signals hadn't changed too much since his time. Once Anthony looked to him, he started, pointing to Anthony, then to his own eyes, then making a chopping motion towards where the voice came from. Anthony nodded and gingerly hopped out of the elevator, slowly moving forward.

Once Anthony reached the end of the small corridor of rock the elevator was in, he slowly peeked around the corner, just barely getting enough of his head around to see. What he saw was nearly beyond explanation. On the other side of the barrier on this level, there was an asari woman suspended in what looked like a sphere made of the same energy as the barrier. Waving the rest of the squad forward, Anthony stood, slowly coming around the corner, the rest of the team joining him a moment later.

The asari looked relieved that someone else was there, calling out to them again. "Hello? Can you hear me out there? Please, I need help..." Shepard stepped forward, lowering his rifle.

"Dr. T'soni, I presume?" At her nod, he continued. "I'm Commander Shepard, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. We need your help. How do we get you out of there?" Dr. T'Soni turned her head towards a console next to her.

"I must have touched something I wasn't supposed to. I was trying to activate these barriers. There's a krogan battlemaster somewhere in here, working with the geth. I thought that the barriers could protect me. You need to find a way past, though. They can only be deactivated from inside the field." Shepard and his team started glancing around the cavern, looking for some way to get through the solid rock. Kaiden spoke up after a moment.

"Commander, over here. There's a mining laser down there, pointed toward the wall." Shepard walked over to the catwalk railing and looked down into the rest of the dig. There below them, was indeed a large mining laser, left haphazardly laying propped up against some rock. It was angled downwards, the controls in a bit of an awkward position, as if it had fallen or been knocked out of place. Shepard turned back to the barrier and to T'Soni.

"Doctor T'Soni, there's an excavation laser down there. Looks like it might be able to get us through. We'll be right with you." At her nod, the team started down the catwalks. They barely made it down, however, before the rocks around them started to chip and shatter from weapons fire. Geth were marching into the main chamber from the far end, Shepard calling out to his team. "AMBUSH!"

Everyone dove behind cover, glad they already had weapons out, Anthony's shield snapping to life as a few rounds from a pulse rifle were able to track his movement behind a boulder. The shots kept up for a moment before stopping altogether, a voice carrying over to them, echoing slightly in the cavernous space. "You're pinned down. Surrender! Or don't. More fun for me, that way." Anthony looked over towards Shepard as he peeked over the rock they were hiding behind, seeing him curse under his breath as he ducked back down again.

"Fuck...that krogan turned up. Looks like he's got about half a dozen geth with him. Everyone keep behind cover as much as you can. Let them make the mistakes. I'll deal with the battlemaster." Each of the humans nodded in acknowledgement, readying themselves as Shepard pulled out a pair of grenades. Activating them and adhering them to each other, he held up his hand in a count.

_Three...two...one...GO!_

Everyone pulled themselves just far enough out of cover to see, letting loose with their weapons. Shields snapped into being on both sides of the cavern, the roar of weapons fire echoing almost deafeningly through the stone space. Shepard popped up to spot at the battlemaster, heaving the two grenades over. A moment later, an explosion rocked the floor, followed by a roar of rage from the krogan battlemaster.

Anthony looked over the edge of the boulder, seeing the cloud of dust and smoke from the explosion. A moment later, the krogan charged through the cloud, panting and grunting as it stood, looking in the direction of the team. Anthony looked around, spotting the one remaining geth that hadn't been caught in the blast, or the minor collapse of the cavern ceiling. He turned to Shepard. "Commander, do you think you can get that laser working?" Shepard looked to the drill and nodded.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" Anthony grinned and put his assault rifle away, pulling out his pistol. He held out his hand to the commander.

"Give me a grenade. I've got an idea. It's either brilliant, or insane. Maybe both." Shepard looked at Anthony for a moment, then his eyes widened in realization.

"Snyder, if you can't pull that off, I will personally pull your soul back from hell so I can kick your ass myself!" At Anthony's nod, Shepard pulled out one more grenade, handing it over to the sergeant. "This isn't one of my usual remote ones. Timer. Four second count from when you push the magic button." Anthony nodded and crouched behind the rock. Shepard opened up his radio to the team frequency. "Alright, everyone. New guy thinks he can be a hero. We pop up, find the geth, and turn it to scrap. He's going to handle the krogan."

Anthony nodded his readiness to John. _'Ok..now it's time to see if this is a good idea or not. Wait...what the fuck am I talking about...this is insane!' _Anthony waited for a moment, until he could hear everyone else giving him cover from the geth before running out, himself, headed for the wall for a few seconds before turning, bringing the pistol up and firing at the krogan. The battlemaster roared in anger as the pistol shots hit it's still regenerating skin, it's rage taking over as it looked for the insect that was attacking him. Spotting Anthony, he charged.

Anthony continued to fire, releasing the pistol with his left hand to activate the grenade, caling over. "NOW!" He continued firing at the krogan, dropping the grenade at his own feet. _'One..."_ The krogan was starting to close on him, already halfway across the large cavern. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shepard climbing over the rocks to the laser controls, Ash, Kaiden, and Wrex still firing at the last geth, keeping it pinned down. _'Two...'_ Suddenly their bullets stopped as the synthetic popped up, being shredded by the squad's AP rounds. The krogan let out another roar as it neared it's target. Anthony hesitated only a moment longer. _'Three!' _

Once again diving for cover, Anthony's shields flared as the grenade exploded. They held for only a moment before failing, his armor taking the rest of the force, knocking him a little further away and kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke. The krogan ran headlong into the cloud, skidding to a stop as it lost visibility for a moment. Shepard hooked his omni-tool to the mining laser, hacking his way into the controls. A moment later, the dust suddenly cleared, the battlemaster glowing with the dark energy field of biotics. It growled as it leveled it's gaze on Anthony, only to find him smirking and waving at him.

A moment later, Anthony's helmet faceplate polarized against the bright light the mining laser put out, but even still he had to hold his arm up to shield himself. Barely a sound was heard from the krogan as the laser vaporized him, burrowing into the ground and to the wall. Shepard cut the beam off after a few seconds, and everyone looked over at the new hole. There was nothing left of the krogan, and the beam had cut clear down to the next level below.

Anthony slowly pulled himself to his feet, putting his pistol away as he walked over to the hole. Reaching up, he pulled his helmet off, panting hard from the rush. The rest of the team slowly walked over, and for a long minute, everything was silent. Then, it was broken by a deep, rumbling chuckle. Everyone looked over to Wrex. The chuckle soon gave way to full out laughter. "Damn, human, do you have a quad! That has to be one of the craziest things I've ever seen!"

Anthony just smiled a little, taking a deep breath before putting his helmet back on. "Thanks, Wrex...I think." Shepard walked up, this time standing directly in front of Anthony. He had a very pissed off look on his face. Anthony just stood a little straighter and held his ground. A moment later, Shepard shook his head, letting a grin come to his face. He simply patted Anthony on his shoulder and turned, walking down into the hole and towards Dr. T'Soni.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the team was in the briefing room back on the <em>Normandy<em>, plus one Dr. Liara T'Soni, who insisted on simply 'Liara'. The briefing was nearly over, the reports having been filed, with Shepard facing the holograms of the Council, updating them on Liara's innocence and justifying the destruction of the ruins on Therum. As the councillors closed the connection, Shepard turned back to the group, leaning back against the railing in front of the hologram projectors.

"Alright...now that's all taken care of, we have one more item on the agenda. Accommodations. Liara, I think we can work you into the sleeper pod schedule. Honestly, there really isn't any other room." Liara shook her head softly.

"No, Commander, that will be alright. The pods never truly agreed with me. I'm sure I can find a spot down in the hold I can store myself. I don't take up much room, and I wouldn't wish to be a burden on anyone. I understand how short on space ships can be." Anthony thought for a moment, then looked up.

"Shepard, the store room behind the med bay where I bunk has more than enough room, and I think we can whip up another cot. Plus, that desk is back there, so Liara can continue on her research into the Conduit." Shepard thought this over for a moment.

"I appreciate the offer, Snyder, but I'm not sure that would really be appropriate. Neither of you would have any privacy back there. Not like that matters for you, but Liara is a guest." Anthony shot Shepard a dirty look for a moment before Liara spoke up.

"Actually, I would not mind that at all. I have been mostly on digs for the past fifty years. It would be nice to have some company for a change." Anthony nodded in thanks to Liara, who returned the nod with a smile. The two then looked back to Shepard. He sighed quietly to himself.

"...why do I feel like I'm going to regret this one day...alright. That settles that, I suppose. Snyder, show Liara to her new quarters. And I want at least some seperation there for her. Nobody needs to be subject to your snoring. Everyone else, dismissed."

AN: Whoo! First main story mission down! Liara's on the team, bunking in with our time-traveler. No, nothing's going to come from that. *ahem* Anyway... you all are getting this a night early because I'm working tomorrow, and I can't take my computer along with me. I'll be at the .Now festival on Governor's Island in NYC. Stop by the EMS station to say hi, if you're going.

Another thing of note: I've already planned out a lot of what I'm going to write, even going into the next game. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of a block. Vermire. So, I've decided to leave the decision up to you, my readers. A poll is on my profile. You can pick up to two choices. Only I know what the mystery choice is. The poll will stay up until the day before I post the first chapter of the Vermire mission. I originally had EVERYONE in the squad there, but if Shepard or Anthony were who buys it there, well, it'd just be a pain to write the rest of the stories. I'll put a notice in the AN before Vermire starts to let everyone know when the poll will end. As always, enjoy and review.

PS: Due to content restrictions, any naugtyness from anyone will be posted at my site rather than here. Link is in my profile.


	8. Getting to Know You

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter VIII

Getting to Know You

Anthony walked into the medbay storage room, Liara following after him. He turned to her, gesturing to the mostly bare room. "It may not be much, but it's been home since I've been on the _Normandy_. I'm sure we can pull together another bed for you. Is there any side of the room you would prefer?" Liara looked around the room as she stepped in, setting down her small bag of research notes and trinkets.

"Well, since your bed is already here in the corner by the door, I suppose I can take the far corner, if that's alright?" Anthony smiled and gave a nod, walking over to the far corner of the room, looking about. After a moment's thought, he walked to a spot roughly halfway between the walls, looking up at a crossbeam. He then looked back to Liara, watching her unpack her bag of things onto the desk in the room.

"I think I can find some scrap or hull patch in the cargo hold to throw together a wall, if you'd like." Liara looked up, walking over to the spot Anthony was gesturing to. Thinking for a moment, she nodded.

"I think that would be fine, Sergeant Snyder, if you think it is necessary. I am quite used to not having a space to myself, so I doubt not having a wall between us would make much difference." Anthony shrugged and opened up his omni-tool, using it to take measurements of the opening, as well as sending them to the requisitions officer for approval. Liara set the now empty bag onto the deck next to the desk, looking over. "If I might ask, why are **you** in here? Would it not be simpler in the sleeper pods outside?" Anthony shrugged as he went to his cot, sitting on the edge.

"First off, if we can't call you 'Dr. T'Soni', please just call me Anthony." At her smile and nod, he continued. "Honestly, I've never been in a pod. It's not that I'm claustrophobic, or anything, but to me, those pods look like coffins." Anthony shuddered a bit at the thought. "The fact that they seal like they do makes it even worse for , uncomfortable or not, I'll take this cot over that thing any day of the week." Liara nodded and sat at the desk chair, starting to go through her notes once again.

"I still find it amazing that your commander was able to survive the beacon merging with his mind. The strain must have been incredible. He must be an incredibly strong-willed person." Anthony was about to answer as the intercom crackled to life, Shepard's voice piping in all over the ship.

_*All hands, this is Shepard. Next port of call for us is going to be Noveria, investigating reports of geth activity in the area. ETA is two days. Due to the incredibly corporate nature of the planet, and being outside Citadel law, shore leave is canceled.*_ Both Anthony and Liara could faintly hear a light groan both through the wall of the room, as well as over the intercom from the CIC. Shepard continued. _*When you're all still aboard the ship and not a part of some genetic experiment, you'll thank me. Other than that, it'll be business as usual. As a final announcement, Sergeant Snyder, please come up to the briefing room once Dr. T'Soni is settled. Shepard out.*_

Anthony blinked and sighed as he stood, Liara looking up to him curously. "Great...back to the principal's office, again." At Liara's confused look, he smiled and explained. "It's an old Earth saying...very old. School-age children would be called to the head of the school when they got themselves into trouble. It became a saying that caught on with all ages to mean 'here I go off to get yelled at for something I did.'" Liara nodded in understanding.

"I am sure Shepard is not going to be too hard on you. I was able to watch most of what happened down in the caves from behind the force field. You were very brave, and your plan seemed to work quite well." Anthony nodded.

"I just hope he focuses on that, too."

* * *

><p>Anthony took a moment to steel himself before he stepped up to the door to the briefing room, entering the sensor radius for the door to open. Inside, he could see John, Ashley, and Kaiden, all seated on one side of the room, a single chair still set up on the other side. Striding into the room, he stopped in front of his three superior officers, turning and saluting smartly. "Reporting as ordered, Commander."<p>

Shepard nodded towards the chair. "Take a seat, Sergeant." Anthony sat, still at as much of a pose of attention as he could be while seated. Shepard paused for a few moments before continuing. "Snyder, the three of us have been...discussing your actions down on Therum. We've found that there are quite a few things we like. But there is one large incident that worries all of us."

"Sir?"

Kaiden spoke up, now. "You demonstrated brilliant skill with your weapons, and using the Mako's shields to give your sniper rounds some extra punch was nothing short of a stroke of genius. For that, we've put through the orders to have your weapons certifications to be officially reinstated, since anything you had qualified with back in your time are now looked at as antiques." Anthony nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Shepard held up his hand, a stern look on his face.

"Don't thank us just yet. What you did with the krogan down in the caves was reckless. It worked, yes, but there were too many points of failure in your plan. We've already lost two crew members on this mission. Granted, they were before you joined us, but it is still a fact. Facing down a charging krogan? You may have read a bit about them, but reading about an enemy and actually facing them are two completely different things."

"May I speak in my own defense, Commander?" At Shepard's nod, he continued. "I admit, this was my first engagement with a krogan, but I didn't just throw myself into that situation without carefully assessing the situation. I may not be familiar with every race, but body language is something I can read very well, due to my medical training. I know when someone is hiding something, when they're worried, and when rage is taking over. When I saw that krogan, I could immediately tell that he was losing himself. At that point, from what I've read, and spoken with Wrex about, a krogan will always charge."

Ashley took over the conversation. "You still took an unnecessary risk. And a big one. The fact that the only one you put in danger was yourself is the only thing keeping you on this ship. Shepard and Kaiden have only lost two people. I'm the only one I know of from my unit that made it off of Eden Prime." Anthony nodded solemnly. Shepard stood, now, walking over. Anthony took this as his cue to stand, as well.

"Anthony, I would **not** usually do this for someone under my command, but this time, I am going to let this slide. No disciplinary action will be put on your file. But I don't want to have to do this again. Keep those brilliant ideas coming, but stow the bravado and risk in your locker when you step off this ship. We need soldiers to take down Saren. Not dead heros." Anthony gave a small nod, saluting once more.

"Aye, sir. I'll keep a better reign on myself from now on." Shepard nodded and returned the salute, then a smile cracked his stern facade.

"Now that the formalities are done with...I have to admit, kid...you've got stones." Anthony just chuckled at this, turning with Shepard as the four made their way from the briefing room.

* * *

><p>Anthony sighed as he made his way down the hall at the head of the CIC, peeking out the window beside Joker. The pilot smirked as he saw who had joined him. "So...no allowance for a whole week, huh?" Anthony simply rolled his eyes and flipped Joker off over his shoulder.<p>

"Bite me, Joker. They said I have a brilliant tactical mind, I just have to learn how to do it without shoving my ass in the fire." Anthony smiled as he turned, leaning against the bulkhead, crossing his arms. "Although, I do have to say thanks. That laser wasn't the best idea, it seems. You really pulled us out of hell, down there." Joker shook his head and let his fingers fly across the controls.

"Yeah, I know. I'm good, you don't have to say it. Just a few nice words at my medal ceremony after all this is done will be fine. And dress nice, yeah?" Anthony couldn't hold it in any more and laughed, walking over and patting the back of the pilot's chair.

"Joker, if it wasn't for the fact that it might kill you, I'd slap you on the back for that one. Anyway, where are we?" Joker looked up at one of the displays, tapping on one of the holographic controls.

"We're a few minutes out from the relay out of the cluster. Therum of course had to be at the ass end of this particular bit of space. Only one relay out of here. Actually, if you'd like, you can sit second chair with me as we head out. Shepard wanted me to check on your flying skills, as well." Anthony raised an eyebrow at this, moving over to the co-pilot seat next to Joker. "Not that you'd ever get my baby all to yourself, but even I can't be awesome all the time, and having someone that can take over so I can take a piss every once in a while is always good. My hands don't reach from the head."

"I'll take that as the compliment I'm sure it was meant to be, Joker. So, what do I need to do?" Joker smiled as he pushed a few buttons, the controls in front of Anthony coming to life.

"Simple. Fly. I'm going to grab a coffee. You want anything from the mess?" Anthony's eyes widened at that, looking back at the controls in front of him. Joker waited a moment before laughing. "Gotcha. You should have seen the look on your face. No, I'm just going to teach you some of the basics. Relay transit protocols, how to engage the stealth systems, scanners, things like that. You don't get the stick just yet." Anthony closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

"Joker...one of these days, someone is going to find a way to fix your bones just so they can deck you." Joker laughed again as the _Normandy_ started to approach a point of blue rapidly growing larger in the viewport. Anthony looked up. "Okay, so there's the relay...how close do we get before I need to do anything?" Joker checked his readouts.

"When we get within about a thousand K, we'll be close enough...now. Alright, hit the button, top right corner, third down, second over." Anthony looked at the controls, finding the button Joker mentioned, marked 'Ping Relay IFF'. Hitting it, the blue light in the distance started to glow a little brighter. "Good. Now we send transit mass and velocity. That tells the relay how much mass to send, how fast we're going, and which other relay in the network we're going to."

"How exact does it have to be? I mean, if you're short by a few kilos, does something get left behind?" Anthony watched joker work as he entered the figures. Joker shook his head.

"No, the relay has fail-safes built into it by the Protheans. Seems like there was contraband on ships even back then. As long as you're in the ballpark, everything will be fine. But since we log everything that comes in, anyway, we usually always have good numbers. Alright, now...good answer from the relay. Headed to the Hades Gamma cluster." Joker reached over and keyed the PA. "All hands, prepare for relay jump."

The _Normandy_ approached the relay, the rings surrounding the massive eezo core spun faster, the core glowing brighter and brighter until the blue turned almost white. Energy shot out from the relay, crackling around the ship as if it were being struck by lightning. A moment later, Anthony felt slightly lightheaded as the relay shot them light-years away. A split second later and there was a slight jolt as if the _Normandy_ were a car and Joker had just tapped on the brakes a little too hard.

"And that's all there is to it. Normal FTL would have taken us about six years to go that far. I don't know about anyone else around here, but I'd go stir crazy on something like that." Anthony nodded, looking out the windows again at the new area of space they were in. A sudden glow of orange at his wrist made him look down, his omni-tool signaling a message had been received. Opening it, he saw that the items he had requested had been delivered to the store room. He stood, looking over to Joker.

"Well, now I know how to push a button. Wonderful. I gotta get back to the med-bay. Trying to make it a little more hospitable for me and Liara." Joker turned and grinned, but Anthony cut him off. "No, I don't plan on what you're thinking, and no, if it does happen, you are not getting pictures."

Joker gave a small pout as Anthony left the cockpit. "Fine, spoil all my fun..."

* * *

><p>The next day started like any other aboard the <em>Normandy<em>, everyone starting to settle into routines of their own. Anthony continued to improve his medical skills under the guidance of Dr. Chakwas, finally getting himself cleared from the stern doctor to be the team's field medic, as she was now confident he wouldn't kill anyone by accident. Tali learned more and more about the ship's drive core and other systems, getting to where Chief Engineer Adams started bouncing ideas off the young quarian, the two of them talking about upgrading the ship's specs way beyond what the Alliance Skunkworks had imagined. Wrex kept mostly to himself, just watching the rest of the crew from his spot in the cargo hold, or checking his weapons, not trusting Ashley's tender care of the rest of the squad's weapons. Kaiden, the only other member of the crew with tech skills, was on the crew deck, working on a stubborn comm terminal near Shepard's quarters. Garrus kept himself busy with the Mako, and was usually only noticable if you looked for a pair of turian feet sticking out from under the APC. Liara kept to her research notes on the protheans, studying every note she had made over her half-century of study, looking for connections with the reapers. And John kept himself busy going back and forth between everyone, helping people get acclimated to their new home, as well as learning what he could about each individual crew member.

Anthony sat on the edge of his bunk, resting his elbows on his knees. The materials dropped off yesterday had made a decent wall between his bunk and Liara's. The Req Officer had apparently read the message as walling off the entire store room, so there was even enough material left over to put simple walls at the end of the small cubicles, actually creating two small bunkrooms. Needless to say, the two agreed that they would keep this little luxury a secret. Dr. Chakwas wouldn't say anything, since she liked the two enough to let them stay in her store room, and John was understanding enough of two of his newest crew members. Liara had even pulled some fabric from her belongings, saying they were a kind of wall decoration from Thessia, which were large enough to create makeshift doors. It wouldn't keep anyone out, but it would give the two a bit more privacy in such close quarters.

His cloth was pulled aside for the moment, letting a little extra light from the rest of the room in. Dr. Chakwas had finally given her approval, and suggested he take a little bit to rest since he had worked so hard that morning. He was looking at the wall, or more specifically, the datapad he had mounted there, displaying a picture of him and his family. It had been in the papers when he went missing from his time, and he was able to pull it up on the extranet. It was taken a month before 'the incident', as he now called it, celebrating the purchase of his first car that was completely his. The company he had worked for was only a few blocks from his house, so he never really needed one beforehand, using his mom's car other times to go to the supermarket or to family gatherings. It was such a piece of shit, his car, but it was h-

"Anthony?"

He blinked, not hearing anyone come into the room. Looking up, he saw Liara standing at his 'door', looking a little unsure about herself. She tilted her head to the side a little. "Are you alright? You havn't said anything since you came in, and that was almost an hour ago." Anthony just gave a small shrug, turning back to the picture. Liara took a step into the small room, concern growing for her new friend. "Would you mind if I sit?" A moment later, he shook his head, and she sat on the bed beside him. Following his gaze, she looked at the photo. She didn't recognize anything about the image aside from the human sitting next to her, but the way they all smiled and stood close together told her a little. "Your family?"

Anthony smiled and nodded slightly, reaching up to point as he spoke. "Yeah. My mom, Cathy...my younger sister, Melissa...and her baby, my nephew Ken." Liara nodded as he pointed at each. Then, she asked.

"What is that...thing...you are all standing in front of?" Anthony smiled even wider, shaking his head. He figured something like this would happen, especially with Liara, due to their shared space.

"That, my dear doctor, is my car. A 1995 Jeep Wrangler. The engine needed work, windows barely moved, her A/C was broken, and the radiator was rusted out...but she was mine." Liara looked a little closer at the image, then looking at the human sitting next to her.

"But...humans do not live long enough...a vehicle made that long ago would have long since turned to dust." Anthony nodded at that, scooting back a little more on the bed, leaning against the wall behind it.

"Very true. That picture is very old. It was taken in 2011." At Liara's even more confused look, he continued. "I don't exactly know how, But about a month after that picture was taken, something happened to me. Some kind of rift of light appeared in front of me. I touched it, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up right out there in the medbay, having just appeared out of nowhere after the beacon blew up."

"You...are from the past, then?" Anthony gave a small nod, and Liara looked back at the picture. "Where is your father? Is he the one taking the picture?" Anthony closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"No...I set the camera on a timer...my dad...died seven years before that picture." Liara kicked herself a little for mentioning it, but Anthony seemed to sense it, and he just waved it off. "Don't worry about it, you couldn't have known. He's actually the reason I signed up for the military and became a medic."

"Still...I am sorry for bringing up any painful memories. Have you...ever looked to see what happened to your family?" Anthony just shook his head.

"No. I'd rather not know, personally. Just in case I can ever find a way back. I already know so much about the 'future'. I'd rather not know what happened in what would have been my lifetime. If I can get back home, what fun would there be knowing what is going to happen?" Liara just nodded, staying quiet for a moment.

"Do you think...you will ever return home?" Anthony just shrugged, still looking at the picture. Liara sighed quietly. "At least you had a large family who loved you. I am an only child, and I have only known my mother. My 'father' as she would be known, left before I was born. Perhaps she was too shamed by creating a pureblood child." Anthony looked up at that, curious.

"That's right...I read up a bit on that when I was getting used to being here. Asari don't have genders like other races. But why do you say 'pureblood' like that? Almost like it was a curse?" Liara smiled softly, looking over as she explained.

"Some asari think it is. When we mate, we look to other species to bring in genetic diversity. Both of my parents were asari, however. Some think that a pairing between two asari weakens us as a race. Children of these pairings are refered to as 'purebloods', though it is not something one would say to my face...or even in polite conversation, for that matter." Liara looked up to the picture again. "You have a family that loves you. Even your father, before he met the Goddess, I'm sure loved you with all his being." Anthony nodded, looking over to Liara.

"Yes, but if your...mother's partner left when you were young...you don't know that she didn't. Do you?" Liara thought for a moment as Anthony spoke. "I mean...something could have come up. Perhaps she was a part of the asari military? Hell, she could be on the _Destiny Ascension_ right now. And, while you said you haven't spoken to Benezia in years...I'm sure you still have fond memories of her?" Liara smiled for a moment, nodding.

"Yes, I do. No matter what was going on...she always found time to play with me. She would even cut meetings short on occasion to spend time with me." Liara gave a small chuckle as she remembered a particular memory. "She actually cut off the Council so she could make it to the awarding of my doctorate from the University of Thessia." Anthony smiled as well at that.

"You see? You have good memories, too. And when we find your mom, we'll see exactly what's going on. But you still have her. Just like I still have my family." He touched his temple. "I still remember them in here." Then he moved his hand down, over his heart. "And I still feel them here. It's one of the ways I hold myself together. I was in the military in my time, too. I'm used to being away from them. I just have to get used to the fact that I might not get back to them is all."

Liara nodded, smiling a bit. "That is...a very wise way of thinking, Anthony. I did not think humans were capable of such an...asari state of mind." Anthony just grinned.

"Well, if you count my little journey, I'm already 197 years old. A lot of time to think about things, you know?" Liara smiled as well, standing.

"In that case, perhaps I should let you rest? At your age, I am sure you must be tired from working with Dr. Chakwas, this morning." With that, she turned, walking towards the desk, and leaving a stunned human sitting on the bed.

"Holy shit...she actually made a joke."

A/N: Hello interwebs! I'm so sorry I missed one of my promised updates. I left a little bit of a note on my profile, but here it is again. I now have internet back at my house. On top of that, my muse left em for a short time, and writing became like pulling teeth. I wanted to get a non-mission based chapter in here, to give a little more character development, and it just stopped. On top of all that, it's been a little hectic around here, and it finally caught up to everyone. We're trying to sell the house and there's a lot of work to do to get it marketable. Again, I'm sorry that I left you all hanging.

Okay, on a happier note, I have finally pulled in my thoughts, seeing the votes on my poll. The 'Mystery Choice' has finally taken shape in my head. I'm still going to leave it open, but I just wanted to let you all know that if that's what comes up as the choice, it's not going to extend the time between the chapters of Vermire while I think up something to do. As for what choice is in the lead, well, you'll all just have to wait, because I'm not telling. :P

And now to let you all down again. Unfortunately, my muse tells me she won't deal with this 'slave labour' as she calls it, and has demanded every other week instead of weekly updates. After a long night at the negotiating table with her, we reached a compromise. I'll allow every other week if she can help me put out longer chapters that are at least 10% more entertaining. So that's what's what going on in my head. See you all next time! Same Mass Effect time, same Mass Effect channel.

Oh, and to answer an anonymous reviewer, those were pretty funny, and that song now has a place of honor on my ipod. EPICNESS!


	9. A Cold Reception

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter IX

A Cold Reception

"So...what you're saying, Commander, is...we're going to land on an ice cube?"

John sighed as the _Normandy_ made it's way through the Pax System towards Noveria. Joker was in rare form, as usual. _'Maybe it's not rare form for him, then...'_ Anthony was seated in the co-pilot's seat, his fingers on the controls. Since most docking was done by autopilot, he didn't see the harm in letting the time-traveling medic a shot at handling the ship's controls. Drive output was still locked to Joker's station, and his own navigational systems would override the rookie pilot's, but having someone else available to pilot if needed couldn't hurt. "Yes, Joker. We're landing on an ice cube. Snyder, we should be close enough for them to have us. Let's say hi." Anthony nodded and reached over, opening the comms.

"Aye, sir." Once the channel was open, he remembered what he could of Joker's hail to the Citadel. "Noveria control, this is _SSV Normandy_, requesting vector and berth." The voice that came back, once again, sounded less than thrilled to have to work.

_*_Normandy_, your arrival is not scheduled. Our defense grids are armed and tracking you. State your business immediately.*_ Anthony blinked and looked over to the other two in the cockpit. Shepard pointed simply to himself. After a moment, Anthony nodded. "Citadel business, Control. We have a Council Spectre on board." The comm was silent for a long handful of seconds, the planet quickly growing closer in the viewports. _*Recieved, _Normandy. _Provisional docking priveladges granted. Stand by for guidance lock. Be advised, we will be confirming your identity on arrival. If confirmation can not be established, your vessel WILL be impounded and crew arrested. Acknowledge, _Normandy_.*_

"Recieved and acknowledged, Control. _Normandy_ out." Anthony reached up and closed the channel, leaning back in the seat as he tapped the controls to accept the port docking information. Shepard's hand on his shoulder caused him to look up. Shepard grinned and nodded, patting his shoulder once again before removing his hand.

"Welcome to the club, Anthony." John started walking back towards the rest of the CIC to get his armor on. "Snyder, suit up. I want you, Liara, and Tali ready to disembark in ten." He didn't even stop as he spoke, and before Anthony could answer, he was already out of earshot. Anthony stood, sighing as he looked back at the comms controls.

"Sounds like a fun group. Joker, what do you say we come back for some snowboarding once this whole Saren thing is done?" Anthony had taken to Joker's unique brand of humor, and had learned to return it in kind. Joker scratched at his light beard, as if in thought.

"You know...I would. Honestly, I really would, but I prefer to hobble off a planet and not have my balls cryogenically preserved. So I'll pull a rain check on that. Let me know when global warming hits this place, though." Anthony laughed and patted the headrest of Joker's chair, walking from the cockpit, making his way down to the medbay. Giving a wave to Dr. Chakwas as he passed her in the mess, he entered the medbay, heading to the door in the back. The door recognized him as he approached, opening in front of him. He didn't expect, however, a completely nude asari standing next to the desk, towel draped over the chair, various light clothing and armor sitting across the desk.

Liara looked up as the door opened, completely surprised at being interrupted. Anthony almost instantly turned, facing out of the store room. "Liara! I...didn't know you weren't...in a position for company..." Liara smiled and started pulling on an undersuit for her armor.

"It's alright, Anthony. It's my fault for forgetting to lock the door. We're close enough to the elevator that I was able to get from the showers to the medbay quickly. I assume we're getting close to Noveria, and Commander Shepard sent you to let me know?" Anthony nodded, hoping to not embarrass himself more, the image of Liara's bare body still taunting him behind his eyelids. "You can turn around, now. I'm covered."

Anthony turned slowly, peeking just a little first, to make sure. When he saw she had her underarmor on, he sighed, turning fully, his cheeks still slightly red. "Well...I suppose something like that was bound to happen eventually...what with us bunking in the same room and all." Liara nodded as she pulled the chair out, sitting and starting to pull on the rest of her armor.

"I suppose I should have mentioned something earlier, as well. Since we are mono-gendered, asari don't have the same stigma about nudity as other races. The fact that I've been more used to being on my own and not having to worry about modesty as much might also have something to do with it." Anthony sighed and nodded, moving into his own small space and, a little sheepishly, pulling the cloth door closed so he could do the same.

"Since you already have your armor up here, I'm guessing you figured that Shepard would have you coming with us?" Anthony asked as he started to undress as well, laying his uniform on the bed as he pulled a small storage bin out from underneath, which held his own undersuit. The slight sound of metal on metal came through as Liara continued with her armor.

"That's right. Or at the very least, he would want me ready in case investigating either here or on Feros showed that my mother was nearby. Since we're all in a bit of a rush to find the Conduit, I thought I should keep myself ready to go if called, rather than wait for a call that I was needed." Anthony figured that was a good plan, standing to pull his undersuit up. Just then, the fabric door pulled aside, Liara looking in, only her lower half armored. Anthony blinked and quickly covered himself as best he could, to Liara's amusement. "Well, I decided it was only fair."

Anthony nodded dumbly, quickly pulling his undersuit the rest of the way on, quickly fastening it closed. "Y-yeah...fair." Liara simply smiled and pulled her head back, letting the fabric fall closed again. Anthony let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and shaking his head. _'This woman is going to kill me, one day.'_

* * *

><p>The small team of four exited the <em>Normandy<em>, heading down the walkway toward the port offices. Before they got too far, though, they were met by two women and a turian, all in the light combat armor favored by security forces. The one in the middle kept her weapons holstered, but the other two made no move to put their assault rifles away. The middle one spoke first.

"That's far enough. Captain Matsuo, Port Hanshan Security. Your arrival here is unexpected. I'm going to need to see your credentials." Shepard nodded, raising his arm to show he had nothing in his hand before opening his omni-tool, broadcasting his ID to both the officers and the port offices.

"Commander John Shepard, Special Tactics and Recon. I'm investigating on orders from the Council." The captain looked at her omni-tool and nodded after a moment, sending the file off to the office as well. The blonde woman beside the captain chose this moment so speak up.

"Load of bullshit, Ma'am. There isn't a human Spectre..." The captain held up her hand to silence her companion, turning back to the ground crew.

"Your identity will have to be confirmed, first. Until then, I have to let you know that firearms of any kind are prohibited on Noveria." She then turned back to the blonde. "Sterling, secure their weapons." Sterling nodded, but barely took a step forward before John, and the rest of the team a split second later, pulled pistols, rifles, and, in Tali's case, a shotgun, leveling them at the officers. Matsuo and her people responded, each of them pulling their rifles up into a firing position.

Anthony swallowed hard as he kept his pistol aimed at Sterling's head. _'Fuck...some welcome...'_

Shepard narrowed his eyes at the three. "Like hell am I giving up my gun." The officers and ground team stared each other down for a long couple of seconds before a voice came over the PA, sounding a little rushed, and more than a little hurried.

_*Captain Matsuo, stand down now! We've confirmed their identity. Spectres and their teams are allowed to keep their weapons here.*_ The officers hesitated for a moment before relaxing their stance, lowering their weapons. Shepard nodded to the others as he lowered his pistol, the team slowly following suit, putting their weapons back in their respective spots. Matsuo placed her own pistol back in it's holster.

"Then you may proceed, Spectre. I apologize. Parasini-san can help you further, here. You can find her in the administrator's office. I hope your stay here will be less...confrontational." Shepard just nodded, walking through the now opened port doors, the rest of the team falling into step behind him. Sterling's voice carried behind them, albeit quietly.

"You'd better behave yourselves..."

* * *

><p>Shepard walked out of Anoleis' office wearing a look of annoyance. The rest of the team stood as he exited, Tali being the first to venture a comment. "You look like that didn't go well, Shepard." John sighed and nodded. If looks could kill, the look he shot back at the administrator's office would have been a small tactical nuclear device.<p>

"Fucking bureaucrats...he'd fit in perfectly on the Citadel. Be great friends with Udina." A small laugh brought the team's attention to the desk in the room, and the woman, Giana Parasini, sitting behind it.

"I'm sorry for laughing, Commander. I've seen that look directed at Mr. Anoleis many times before. I only ask that you please don't follow through on it. The paperwork would bury me for a year." Shepard scoffed quietly. Parasini brought up her own omni-tool, pushing a file to Shepard. "Here. A map to Port Hanshan to help you out. Please, if you need anything, I'll do what I can to help. In the meantime, I'd suggest looking into the hotel bar. It might help take the edge off." The slight extra stress made things obvious to Shepard, who nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Miss Parasini. I'm sure I'll see you again before I leave." Giana nodded and turned back to her terminal as the team walked out into the main area. As Shepard pulled up his omni-tool, Anthony walked over to the large windows at the side of the building, looking out at the blizzard raging outside. Tali walked up beside him.

"The snow out there is so beautiful. Pity going out there would freeze you solid before long." Anthony nodded, staring out the window, still. "I mean, my environment suit is fully thermo-regulated, even more than your armor, and I'm STILL cold. Anthony, how are you not shivering?" Anthony just smiled.

"I'm originally from a part of Earth called Maine. It's one of the furthest north areas in the country I lived. It's usually much colder there throughout the year than the rest of the country, and the winters last longer. Looking out there right now actually reminds me of home, a bit." Tali just shook her head, under her breath saying something about 'crazy humans'. Anthony just grinned even more as Shepard came over to the two.

"Alright, you, two, quit playing kissy-face. Parasini sent a map with a message." Shepard held up his omni-tool, showing the map, a marker on the hotel bar pulsing slightly, marked with a note. 'Meet me here.' Anthony and Tali nodded, although the quarian did have a bit of a confused tilt to her head.

The four walked through the port, avoiding the security personnel as they walked, most of them looking as if they were just waiting for one of them to make a wrong move. Shortly afterwards, they found the hotel, entering and moving into the bar. It took a few minutes after they arrived for Giana to join them, and when she entered and spotted them, she motioned the team over to a quieter corner.

As everyone moved away from the dancing and the rest of the bar, Parasini turned to face the team. "Sorry about before. I couldn't say much that close to the administrator. Allow me to introduce myself again. Giana Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs. Commander, I might be able to help you with your garage problem." If Shepard was surprised, he hid it well, simply crossing his arms and looking at Giana.

"Sure, but what does IA need me for?" Giana smiled as she waved off one of the servers.

"Simple. You're a Spectre. As Anoleis' aide, I'm a lot more visible and noticeable, here. But you, people want to forget." Shepard rolled his eyes, but Parasini continued before he could say anything. "Well, it's true. Noveria only cares about one thing: the bottom line. Spectres make the Executive Board nervous. Now, as I said, I might be able to help you, if you can help me. I've been assigned to take down Anoleis. Everyone knows he's dirty, but he hides it well enough that nobody can get solid dirt on him. I've gotten as enough circumstantial evidence to nail his ass to the wall for years, but I need something solid to make it all stick."

"Which is where me and my team come in?"

Giana grinned. "Exactly. Over on the other side of the bar is a turian named Lorik Qui'in. He got on Anoleis' bad side and got burned, but I can't get him to testify. If you can convince him to finger the administrator, I'll get you that garage pass."

John considered her proposal for a moment before nodding. "Sounds fair, Miss Parasini. I'll see what I can do." Giana smiled.

"Good. You know where you can find me." With that, she walked off, making her way back to the entrance to the hotel bar, disappearing down the short hallway.

* * *

><p>Shepard and crew walked back out of the administrator's offices, following a cursing salarian and a smug human, the former in handcuffs, the latter being less than gentle about it. As she marched Anoleis off toward the Executive Board offices, Parasini paused, half-turning toward the group. She pulled a passkey out of her dress, throwing it through the air to Shepard, who caught it over his head. "As promised, Shepard. See you around the galaxy. I owe you a beer."<p>

Shepard just shook his head and smiled, looking down at the garage pass. "Well, that's the good deed for the day, I suppose. Time to go and find out just what's going on at Peak 15." The group marched through the port to the garage. Upon reaching the door, one of Matsuo's officers stopped them.

"I'm sorry, but access to the garage is restricted." Shepard handed over the pass that Parasini had tossed to him. The guard scanned it with her omni-tool and nodded at the results. "Alright, that's genuine. Take care driving. The storm is supposed to be pretty bad out there in the Aleutsk Valley." The door to the garage slid open as the guard granted them access.

Shepard led the group into the garage, spotting the Mako at the far end, ready to go. "Looks like Parasini even arranged transportation for us. At least we have one per-"

"Shepard, I think we have a problem."

John looked over to Anthony, who had stopped in his tracks, pulled out his pistol, and was scanning the garage. "What's up, Snyder?" Anthony reached up with a hand and tapped his helmet, still turning and looking around the large room.

"Remember Therum? My motion tracker is being jammed..." Shepard nodded, pulling out his assault rifle, starting to scan the room, as well. A moment later, his shields flared as they took a heavy hit.

"COVER!"

The squad broke, each making for their closest piece of cover. Luckily, there were cargo containers still scattered around. Anthony pressed his back against the container, peering around it for a moment. "Commander, there's two geth heavies advancing from the far end, and I think I saw one of those hoppers bouncing around." Shepard looked over from his cover, checking the garage for a moment, ducking down behind the container as another sniper round pinged off the metal in front of him.

"Snyder, you're closer. That other Mako on the maintenance lift, see if you can get it's cannon online. Even if it's not armed, we can tie into it's targeting sensors, they should be able to cut through this garbage." Anthony nodded.

"Sounds good. Plow the road for me, then." Shepard nodded and raised his assault rifle, Tali and Liara doing the same.

"Alright. Covering fire. Now!" The three pulled themselves just far enough out of cover to get a line on the geth, opening up on the two geth destroyers. Anthony took that as his cue and took off at a sprint for the Mako. Luckily, it's hatch was still open from the last mechanic to come around.

Climbing in, he pulled up his omni-tool. Connecting with the vehicle, the display requested a passcode. "Fucking hell..." Loading some of the military hack programs he had downloaded from the _Normandy_, he set them to work as he checked a bit more of the APC. The turbines were mostly in pieces, as well as the eezo core, but luckily the cannon still had some rounds left in it, as well as just enough power to fire. His omni-tool beeped and the inside came to life. Anthony grinned and radioed the team. "Mako's online. Going loud." Shepard answered.

_*Light them up!*_ Not bothering to answer, Anthony climbed into the gunner's seat. The controls activated as he sat, the cannon coming to life. Spinning the barrel to face the two larger geth, he sighted the first one and fired. A roar echoed through the garage as the cannon fired, sending a high explosive shell straight into the geth destroyer's torso. Mechanical pieces exploded outwards, knocking the other one over.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the hull near him, his own shields flaring a little as the round barely skipped over them. "Shit...someone find that hopper, Mako's targeting sensors are on!" A moment later, he leveled the cannon at the other geth, squeezing off another round. It, like the other, painted the garage in small fragments of metal. Scanning the room for the last one, the garage now appeared empty. "Anyone see it? I don't have-" A mechanical chirping from behind him interrupted his report. Turning, he saw the hopper had pulled itself half into the Mako and was staring at him. "Oh, shit..."

The hopper narrowed it's gaze at him, a red targeting beam coming from it's flashlight head, straight to his chest. At this close range, his shields and armor wouldn't stand a chance at holding back the round, and with no room to move, there was no way to dodge it. The beam faded out, and as he heard the geth's weapon charging, he only had one thought. _'At least I go down fighting.'_

Suddenly, the head of the geth froze as a blade broke through the light on the geth's face. Anthony jumped a little, not expecting that at all. The blade withdrew and the geth body slumped forward, laying limp across the rear seats. Anthony looked up past the geth to see Tali, knife in hand, staring at the body. She wiped the blade off on the seat before sliding it back into her boot. Anthony sighed as he slumped back into the seat. A moment later, he turned again, climbing over the geth and pulling himself through the hatch. "Thanks, Tali...I thought I was toast." Tali simply shook her head.

"Don't mention it. You would have done the same." Anthony smiled and nodded.

"True, but not with the same style. Knife through the back of the head is just too good." Tali looked away a little, and with her visor, it wasn't easy to see, but Anthony could have sworn she was blushing. Anthony sighed and walked with her back to the rest of the team. Shepard looked up.

"Snyder, you alright?" At Anthony's nod, he stood, tossing aside a piece of geth scrap. "Alright, then, everyone. Let's head to the Mako that isn't in a dozen pieces and try to make it through this storm. Snyder, good shooting. Two more for you."

"Hold it right there!"

The team turned to the doors, finding Captain Matsuo and two more of her officers coming in from the hallway. Shepard sighed as the officers leveled their weapons at them. Matsuo sent Shepard a hard glare. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Spectre? You don't have your total immunity like the rest of Council Space." John shot back an equally hard glare.

"What I was doing is defending myself and my team against a geth ambush! If you idiots stepped up security a little more and cut back on your damn 'privacy guarantees', then maybe you'd know what is going through your precious port!" Matsuo looked at Shepard with disbelief.

"Geth? You want me to believe geth were he-" She silenced her protest as she saw Anthony and Tali pulling the remains of the geth hopper from the other side of the maintenance bay.

"Proof enough for you? We're here investigating Matriarch Benezia. She's working with the geth." Matsuo shook her head.

"No...we would have caught that, there was no way to get them in, other than her shipping containers. And we scanned those! No element zero readings, no power sources..." Tali and Anthony stepped back with the rest of the crew, and Tali spoke up.

"They jammed our readings. It's possible they did the same to your scanners." Matsuo lowered her gaze.

"If that's true...and Benezia-sama brought them...there are many more, perhaps hundreds. I...I need to go and inform the Executive Board about this. I might be able to convince them to assist you."

Shepard nodded and turned towards the other Mako, calling over his shoulder. "You do that. We're going to Peak 15. Relay through my ship if you have news." Matsuo nodded and hurried out of the garage, leaving the team alone again as they walked. Climbing into the Mako, Liara sealed the hatch behind her. Shepard started up the APC, hitting a button to signal to the port VI that they were ready to depart. The doors in front of them slowly withdrew into the walls, revealing a long passageway.

The Mako started moving into the passage, they heard the door close behind them. Anthony looked over to Shepard. "Out of the frying pan, sir?" Shepard nodded as he gunned the throttle, the door at the far end of the passage opening, revealing the blizzard outside.

"And straight into hell..."

A/N: Ah, the first chapter to come out of the author/muse alliance. Some good action, a little naughtyness, and all around awesome. I know Liara is slightly OOC here, but I like to think I justified it well. As for the showers and all, thinking back to the first Normandy, there were no crew quarters or bathrooms on the ship at all, so I'm retconning them into a new deck below engineering. Just about everywhere else on the ship that I could think either wouldn't work for that scene, or was already taken up by something else. Also, an update on the vote. There is currently a tie for the lead between CLASSIFIED and TOP SECRET. What, you didn't think I'd tell you, did you? :) Anyway, if a tie does turn up coming around when the team hits Vermire, I'll use my mighty author powers to cast the tiebreaker vote. Again, I would like to thank everyone for reading. See you next time!


	10. Family Reunion

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter X

A Family Reunion

The Mako rolled to a stop in the entry garage of the Peak 15, the doors closing behind it. Climbing out, the team stretched a bit before looking around. The entryway was mostly barren of any information about the facility, other than a sign above the interior door welcoming employees. John, Anthony, Tali, and Liara all took a moment to stretch. Anthony took the chance to speak first.

"You know...I'm all for road trips, but next time, someone else drive? No offense, Commander, but whoever certified you on this thing must not have been riding shotgun with you." Shepard just smirked.

"Actually, Snyder, training with them is all in VR simulators, now. Just as good as the real thing, though." Anthony just shook his head, stretching a little more. Shepard also tilted his head to the side, the vertebrae in his neck letting off several loud pops. "Although...I don't think the Alliance had long-distance travel in mind when they designed it."

"I'll say. I'm used to tight spaces, but that was a bit much even for me." Tali added. For a moment, she seemed to shiver a bit before pulling up her omni-tool and hitting some controls. "Can we please get inside more? I'm still feeling a chill. Remind me never to come back to this world once we're done."

Anthony suddenly looked worried. He looked over to the rest of the team. "Hey, guys...is it just me...or is there a voice coming from in there? Sounds like an automated warning or something..." The rest of the team looked over to Anthony, who was now standing beside the door to the main part of the garage, the door still closed for now. Sighing, he shook his head. "I can't make it out. But it sounds like someone on the PA."

John thought for a moment, then looked over to the main garage doors. "Tali...you're the best with an omni-tool. Can you see if you can get the main doors open? If there's anyone in there, I'd rather have the Mako for the firepower, just in case." Tali nodded, walking to the door's controls, pulling open her omni-tool and seeing what she can do with the controls. Shepard walked over to Anthony and Liara.

Liara looked up as he walked over, and saw the look of concern on his face. "Commander, I know what you're going to say. If my mother is indeed still here, and working for Saren, I want to go in. I need to find out what is going on. As I know her, she never would have done something like this." Shepard nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"Please, Shepard. I need to." John lowered his gaze and sighed.

"Alright, Liara. I won't ask you to stay back. But if we start finding things you can't handle, say something." Liara nodded. Tali then interrupted them.

"Alright. I think I've got it. If we're taking the Mako in, then whoever is driving should get in." Shepard nodded and made his way to the hatch. Climbing in, he left it open for the moment. The rest of the team readied their weapons as tali brought up the omni-tool again, hitting a button. "Okay, doors opening!"

The door slowly retracted it's way into the celing, Anthony peeked around the doorframe. Not seeing anything just yet, he raised a hand, making a waving forward motion to show the room was clear. Liara and Tali moved up with him into the garage, the automated warning now able to be understood.

_*User Alert: All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Bio-Hazard materials present throughout facility. VI/user interface offline.*_

John looked up, a little more alarmed as he heard that. Leaning over to the hatch, he called out. "Everyone, hardsuit protocols, NOW!" Hitting a button on the side of his own helmet, the breather mask slid forward, locking in the middle and pressing against the opening, sealing him into his own environment. Tali had nothing to worry about, since her suit was hard-sealed, anyway. Liara and Anthony did the same thing, their respective masks sealing their helmets, as well. Shepard's voice came across the suit radios.

"_Alright, everyone, radios only from this point on. Snyder, take a minute and boot up that medical scanner. Check everyone for any contamination.* _Anthony nodded and put his rifle away, lifting his arm up to access his omni-tool. Before he could, though, Liara all but tackled him out of the way. Before anyone could question her, though, a reddish blast of energy sailed through the air where he was standing. Shepard looked through the Mako's viewport.

On the far side of the garage, several geth, including a Destroyer, which had fired the shot, were now advancing on the squad.

"_Contact!"_

* * *

><p>The door to the elevator slid open, revealing an out of breath ground team, each of them with weapons raised in case of the slightest non-humanoid movement in the hallway. Seeing none, each took a moment, leaning against the elevator walls.<p>

Anthony, Liara, Tali, and John all were looking at each other, none believing what they had just seen. Some kind of beasts were rampaging though the facility, and none of the researchers were anywhere to be seen, not even bodies. Soft panting was heard through everyone's radios, each of them trying to catch their breath and calm themselves from the monstrosities that were infesting the building. Anthony looked over to the others.

"_I'm guessing...those things aren't a Citadel race, then?"_ The other three stared at him for a moment. John's soft chuckling slowly came across the radio.

"_Snyder...congratulations. If we make it out of this pit...I'm making you ship's morale officer."_ Anthony chuckled as well, straightening enough for a moment to throw off a salute. _"I'm going to go out on a limb here, but...I think these creatures are the 'Bio-Hazard' the VI was talking about." _Tali made a scoffing noise at that.

"_Well, they certainly are hazardous. To us, in particular. It would make sense with the turrets facing inwards, as well, back there."_ John nodded for a moment, thinking for a moment.

"_Still, keep your breathers active. No chances. I don't want to contaminate the ship with whatever might be here." _With nods from the team, the four made their way out of the elevator and into the hallway. At the end of the passage, the door slid open, revealing what seemed to be a waystation central corridor. Signs at the far end of the room advertised different destinations of the lab. The VI came across the PA again.

_*Non-contaminant life forms detected. Alert: Critical startup error. VI/user interface offline. Manual repair required.*_

Shepard kept his shotgun raised, still sweeping the room. Walking further, he spoke sternly. _"Alright, people, by the numbers. Contacts?"_

A chorus of 'clear' answered him, and he slowly lowered his weapon, walking further toward the back of the room. _"Tali, that looks like the VI core over there. You're up."_ She nodded and wet over, connecting her omni-tool to the computer. When she got nothing, she came back out of the ring, looking back to Shepard.

"_It's completely offline. It looks like the core is down further. I'm going to have to take this lift down and see if I can pull together a backup copy." _Shepard nodded as Tali disappeared back into the core.

"_Alright, you two, let's see what we can find out about this place."_

* * *

><p>The elevator to Hot Lab 2 opened, Anthony and Liara stumbling out, both covered in what appeared to be blood and various pieces of alien flesh. Shepard and Tali both rushed over, helping the two from the elevator and into Rift Station, proper. John looked over at the two, having taken off his helmet once he and Tali created a cure for some disease that had gotten out in the Quarantine Labs. "I'm guessing that everything down there is dead?" Anthony sighed and nodded, pulling his own helmet off.<p>

"Yeah...we hit the neutron purge. Little fuckers didn't feel like going quietly, though." Anthony looked over to Liara. "You alright?" Liara pulled her own helmet off and just nodded, panting gently from the run. Anthony Looked back to Shepard. "There...must have been over a hundred. Running and gunning the whole way. Damn motivating, Commander, I'll tell you."

"Hell, I can believe it. Took the krogan to wipe these things out last time." At the confused looks, John continued. "They're rachni." Anthony wasn't too affected by it, but Liara gasped. John nodded. "Yeah, that's what we said when we found out. Binary Helix found an egg on a derilict ship. It was a queen. And guess who happens to be the majority shareholder?" Anthony looked down, closing his eyes.

"Saren Arterius?" Shepard just nodded, helping him up as Tali helped Liara to her feet. "Well...one lab and a fuckton of rachni down. One lab, one queen, and one asari matriarch to go?" Anthony watched Liara out of the corner of his eye as he spoke, watching her face fall as he mentioned her mother.

"Yeah. I hope it doesn't come to that, but so far this whole planet has been a clusterfuck. But everyone, stay aware of your surroundings when we go down there." Shepard led the squad to the next elevator over, marked 'Hot Lab 1'. Opening to the keycard Captain Ventralis had given Shepard after coming back from the Quarantine Lab, John watched as everyone entered. Stepping in, he paused his hand over the controls. "Anyone have doubts...last chance."

Stares of determination met his gaze as he looked around the elevator cab. Nodding once, hit hit the button, closing the doors and descending the team into the lab. "Alright. Eyes on a swivel, everybody. Who knows what else might be down here. If it has more than two legs or is glowing from the head, don't hesitate." Nods answered him as everyone pulled their helmets back on. Given the tight quarters, everyone pulled out their shotguns as the door opened.

"Alright. Move out."

Surprisingly, there was very little still in this lab. The group kept alert and quiet until they came to the main experiment area. Opening the door and bursting into the corner of the room, all guns were trained on the platform in the center, and Benezia. The Asari Matriarch almost seemed to pay the group no attention, standing next to a tank containing a single Rachni. Benezia quietly began talking towards the team, but not looking at them yet.

"You...you do not know the priveledge of being a mother. The power of creating a life. Turning it towards happiness or despair." She turned to face the team, her eyes locking with Liara's for a moment. "Her children were to be OURS. Raised to slay Saren's enemies. Your boldness is admirable, Shepard. But I won't be moved by sympathy. No matter who you bring into this confrontation." John shook his head, Liara standing slightly straighter in defiance.

"Liara is here because she asked to be. I was actually going to ask her to stay behind. She wanted the truth." Benezia just sneered at the group.

"Indeed." She stared down Liara, seemingly ignoring the others for a moment. "What have you told them about me, Liara?"

"What would you have me tell them about you, mother? That you're insane? Should I tell them how to kill you? No. I told them that the woman I knew as my mother would never do anything like this!" Anthony reached out, placing a hand on Liara's shoulder. She turned to face him, and after a moment, she nodded solemnly. Benezia laughed.

"Found a new thing of interest, my dear daughter? Well...it is too bad. Shepard, have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have...and survived to tell of it." Shepard looked up to Benezia in surprise.

"You would kill your own daughter?" The Asari Matriarch just chuckled darkly.

"I see now I should have been...stricter with her. A mistake I now rectify!" Benezia glowed the eerie blue of biotics before launching a ball of dark energy at the squad. Shepard's eyes went wide, screaming out as he dove for cover.

"BREAK!"

The team just barely made it out of the path of the projectile, only to have to take further cover as shots rang out from the far end of the lab, a group of heavily armed Asari coming out of their ambush positions. Everyone pulled their weapons back up to bear on the new attackers. Shepard called out once again. "Pick your targets and take them out. But we all hit Benezia together!" Anthony looked over to Liara when that order was given. Her face was set hard for what needed to be done, but her eyes spoke a different story. _'She's terrified...even seeing her mother like this, she can't do it...'_

Anthony looked over to Shepard, calling out. "Commander! I swear, nothing stupid this time. Give me a distraction and I can take her down." Shepard looked over to Anthony.

"Commandos, first, Snyder! Then we worry about her!" Anthony nodded, putting his shotgun away and pulling out his pistol. Commandos started to corner in on the squad, firing almost constantly. "Everyone, take cover and shut your shields off!" At the squad's sudden look of surprise, John continued. "Tali, wide area overload. You think you can hit them all at once?" Tali nodded after a moment's thought, and from the sound of her voice, even through the vocal filter, one could tell she had an evil smile on her lips.

"It'll be like they were never on." Shepard nodded and waited for a moment, throwing a grenade over the crate he was behind to give a little more cover. He then nodded to Tali. She brought up her omni-tool and overloaded it, sending a shock wave across the room. Shields sputtered and failed as the mini EMP overloaded the circuitry.

"Alright, take them down!" The team reactivated their own shields and pulled up over the crates. Against the now unshielded opponents, their weapons had devastating effect. Commandos began falling under the hail of rounds. Shepard then looked over to Anthony. "Alright, Snyder, you're up! Don't get dead!"

Anthony nodded and put his pistol away, sprinting for the platform beneath the Rachni tank. He reached into the trauma kit that was attached to his leg, a gift from Dr. Chakwas before the team left the _Normandy._ Now, he was glad he had it. Pulling out an injection gun, he loaded it with sedative. It was three times the normal dose, yes, but it wouldn't be fatal. Just knock out whoever it was put into for a while. For someone like Wrex, it might last a few hours, but for an Asari, he was sure it would be a few days before she woke up. And this was triple that dose. Anthony keyed up his radio. "Liara...I need you to distract her. She focused on you before, I need you to do that again so I can get behind her."

"_Got it."_ Anthony slowly made his way up the other side of the platform as Liara called out. "Stop this, mother!" Benezia actually did stop for a moment, Liara coming out of her cover completely, lowering her weapon. "I...I don't want to hurt you, mother!" Benezia turned to the three, sneering at her daughter.

"You will fail. Saren's armies are unstoppable." She turned towards the Rachni again. "My mind is filed with his light!" Shepard and the rest of the team slowly advanced towards her, climbing onto the platform. Anthony slowly made his way up the stairs behind her. "You will not make me betray him! You...you...will..."

"Mother...?" Liara took another hesitant step closer as Benezia faltered in her words. When she turned back to the group, however, they were surprised at her words.

"You must listen to me. Saren...still whispers in my mind. I can fight his control, briefly, but...his indoctrination is strong. Being near him makes your mind twist and warp. It makes you want to do anything for him, even give your life. Soverign...Saren's flagship. That is the key. It is a dreadnaught of unimaginable power."

Shepard slowly lowered his weapon. "You mean...that ship that attacked Eden Prime? Where did he get it?" Benezia shook her head.

"I don't know, but it's capacity for destruction is not it's true power. The longer you are aboard, the more his will seems right. It is...subtle at first. I...I thought I would be able to resist. I saw Saren's power ad I wanted to steer him toward a more peaceful path. Instead...I became a willing pawn." She turned once again, looking toward the Rachni Queen. Her voice took on a more remorseful tone. "Saren sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay. It's position was lost thousands of years ago by a supernova. The relay wound up in Rachni space. Their Queens gain the genetic memories of their mothers. I...took it from her mind. I was...not gentle." Liara spoke quietly.

"Mother, please...did you send the relay's location to Saren?" Benezia just nodded solemnly.

"Right before you arrived. But here." She turned again, facing the team. During this time, Anthony made his way up the platform, hanging off the side of the railings behind the consoles to keep hidden. He held the injection gun in his teeth as he pulled himself now over the railing, bending his knees as he landed, making his footfalls almost silent. Benezia took the noise as the Rachni in the tank and dismissed it. "I copied the data onto an OSD. Please...take it." She held out a disc to Liara, who took it.

"Mother..."

"Now...you have to go. I...I can feel Saren's whispers in my ear...his teeth within my mind! You...you need to..." Benezia collapsed down to a knee at this point, clutching at her head. "AHH!" Anthony gripped the injector tightly, knowing he would have one shot. As Benezia stood, he moved in, cutting her off in mid-word. "DI-Ahhh!" Pressing the injector against her neck, he pulled the trigger. Benezia swung wildly in surprise, knocking Anthony backwards against the console, her hand going to her neck. "Treachery is how you fight! With poison when your opponents back is turned!" Benezia stumbled slightly as the drug began to take effect, falling backwards against a railing. Liara rushed to her side as Shepard moved to check on Anthony.

"I'm alright..." Anthony groaned as Shepard helped him up. Looking over, he watched Liara and Benezia.

"Good night...my Little Wing. I will...see you again on the dawn." Benezia's head dropped forward for a moment before she lifted it again. Liara's voice was now choked with tears.

"Mother...!" Liara was nearly speechless, crouched down beside her mother. Benezia simply smiled for a moment, before looking confused.

"No...no light...? They always said...supposed to be a li-..." Benezia's eyes closed as the drug took full effect. Anthony walked over to Liara, wanting to make sure she didn't assume the worst.

"She'll be alright, Liara. It was just a heavy sedative. She'll be out for a while. But we might be able to find a way to reverse this...indoctrination. She was able to fight it long enough to help us." Liara just nodded softly, still cradling her mother's limp form. Nobody noticed one of the dead Asari commandos slowly getting up, walking jerkily towards the Rachni tank.

Until she spoke. "This one...will speak for us." The whole team turned, leveling weapons at the commando. Shepard quickly raised his hand.

"Wait!"

Walking closer, John looked at the Asari's chest, where a shotgun round had left many small holes, some still oozing light purple blood. The commando spoke again, her entire body moving erratically.

"We can not sing in these low spaces. Your music is...colorless. We...are the mother. We sing for those lost...to silence." Tali quietly spoke up.

"The Rachni...she's using this Asari to speak." Shepard looked over to the tank, at the Queen within.

"What do you want?" The controled Asari twitched more as she spoke.

"You are...not in harmony with those who wished...to control us. What will you sing? Will you release us...or will you let our song fade again into silence?" Tali looked up to Shepard.

"John...you can't. It took the Krogan to stop the Rachni attacks last time. And look what happened!"

"Your companion...hears the truth." Shepard gave a hard stare to the Rachni.

"If...I let you go...would your kind attack other races again?"

"No! That was...not of our doing! Our songs were...thrown from harmony. Songs of...oily shadows mixed with ours. The same songs that...shake her mind." The commando looked toward the unconscious Benezia. "But...her song has not ended."

Liara looked up, toward the Rachni. "If you can control that body...can you...can you restore her song?" The Rachni almost seemed to look down.

"No. Her song is not our own. But her song still plays. If the songs of shadows can be ended...her own will crescendo." John looked down to Liara and nodded. Turning back to the tank, he walked to the controls.

"I believe you. And you won't die here. Not by my hands."

"You will let us compose anew?" At his nod, the Rachni turned her head to face Shepard, her tentacled claws lowering, as if in a bow of thanks. "We...will remember you. And we will sing of your forgiveness...to our children."

With a whirr of machinery, the tank began to rise. Coming into contact with a passageway above, the movement suddenly stopped. The Rachni Queen once again seemed to look at Shepard as the Asari commando's body crumpled to the platform, released from her control. The Queen then moved to the passage and scurried out of sight. Anthony looked up to Shepard as they watched. "I hope you know what you're doing, John." Shepard just nodded.

"Yeah. Me, too."

* * *

><p>Back on the <em>Normandy,<em> Anthony had received a healthy dressing down by Dr. Chakwas over his methods. But ultimately, Shepard had stepped in, pointing out that if he hadn't done what he did, Benezia would more than likely be dead, rather than laying in the med-bay under heavy IV sedation. Liara was staying close to her mother for the time being, and everyone had cleared out to give her some privacy. The rest of the squad had gone to the briefing room to report to the council. Needless to say they were surprised to hear of Benezia's survival, but were worried of hearing the Rachni were loose again. After the last report, Shepard had a button ready on the podium, and when the Turian Councillor started his rant, John hit the button, closing the link. Anthony and John were now in the mess, taking in the day's events.

"Anthony...that was reckless...but I'm glad you did that. Losing her mother like that would have been a huge blow to Liara. Just...pray we don't come to regret it." Anthony nodded softly, nursing a cup of tea, not trusting the coffee for the moment.

"Yeah. I do. But...hell, I don't know. The Hippocratic Oath got to me. 'Do no harm', and all that, you know? Plus...if she's so respected with the Asari...maybe if we get through this, the Council will listen to her?" John nodded.

"Sound thinking, I suppose. Anyway, good work. We're going to head back to the Citadel for now. Resupply, as well as get Benezia to a proper hospital so she can be monitored better than we can do here. The med-bay isn't made for long-term care."

"Aye, sir." John nodded and stood, making his way upwards toward the bridge, to inform Joker of their course, no doubt. Anthony then stood and made his way over to the med-bay door. He didn't activate it, though. Touching the door softly, he turned and walked off.

"For you, dad."

AN: And another one down! I'd like to thank Sarge1995 for the idea for saving Benezia in this chapter. I hope that I didn't make it too odd, or break far enough from the game to make it not as believable. On a more personal note, this chapter is dedicated to my father, who passed as the result of a massive stroke on 1-18-06. He was my closest friend, even when I didn't have any, and was my inspiration not only to become an EMT, but to begin writing in the first place.

Also, on going through my old computer, to bring files to my new laptop and portable hard drive, I found a file I had started years ago. So after this story, I'll be using that one as my break from the ME universe to plan out the sequel a little more. See you later, everyone! And as always: Love it? Hate It?

↓Let me know right here!↓


	11. Misdirection From Both Ends

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XI

Misdirection From Both Ends

"Like hell we'll turn her over for that! She's been brainwashed! She's here as a patient, not a prisoner!"

"Nevertheless, Commander, she has been instrumental in Saren's activites. She needs to be interrogated as to Saren's current plans, as well as what he's really up to. Once you arrive here at the Citadel, we expect you to bring her to the detention center."

John scowled at the hologram of the turian councillor. "He's bringing back the Reapers, that's what he's 'really up to'." John gave the haughty turian a dose of his own air-quotes, earning what looked like a scowl in return. "And she was with him to try and figure it out as well. But she failed. She was indoctrinated." Shepard's gaze hardened at all three of the holograms in front of him. "She tried to kill me AND my team, including her own DAUGHTER! Right now, the only thing that's keeping her from tearing this ship apart is heavy sedation. And you want to wake her up to ask her a few questions?"

The asari councillor raised her hands in a calming gesture, once again trying to diffuse the situation. "Commander, please. We understand your feelings on the matter. However, we feel that this is the best course of action for the moment, at least until this situation with Saren and the geth has been resolved."

John grumbled under his breath. "Fine. When we get to the Citadel...I'll turn her over to C-Sec. But I am NOT going to be happy about it." The salarian spoke up now.

"Shepard, your personal feelings about this are noted. But we are giving you an order. Trust that we have the best interests of all parties involved by doing this. Lady Benezia is still an Asari Matriarch, and she will be treated with dignity and respect of that position."

"Yeah. Alright, _Normandy_ out." John reached over and hit the diconnect button. Almost immediately, he raised his hand to silence the protests that began from both Anthony and Chakwas behind him. "Wait. Just wait a moment." He then reached over to the console, keying up the internal comm. "Joker?"

_*Yeah, commander?*_

"All stop. We seem to have suddenly come down with some engine problems. New drive core, prototype ship, all that good stuff. If anyone from the Citadel calls, that's the line you feed them, got it?"

_*You got it, Shepard. I'll give 'em the answering machine.*_

"Good." Shepard reached up and shut down the link, turning back toward Anthony and Helen. "Alright, then. That should give us a few hours." Anthony and Helen looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to the commander, each having a confused look on their faces.

"Sir...a few hours for what?" Anthony leaned back against the chair he was sitting on. Shepard grinned.

"The Council wants us to turn her over when we reach the Citadel. We have to figure a way to NOT reach the Citadel and still have somewhere safe to bring her. You two are my medical officers. Medical is the only way to give a good excuse to the Council for why we bring her somewhere else. Have at it."

Two hours later, the three still had gotten no further in their ideas. Dr. Chakwas excused herself to head back down to the medbay, to check in on Benezia and to give another dose of the sedatives, as well as to try and chase Liara back to the storeroom to rest, as she had been awake since before the Noveria ground mission. Anthony and John remained in the briefing room, looking over datapads and star charts. Anthony finally sighed and tossed the datapad he was holding onto a shelf.

"Alright, there's no good answer. Thessia is too far, Illium is too far, ALL the asari worlds are too far." Anthony looked over to the main star chart of the galaxy on the display screen, showing their current position and all planets that would be able to handle the matriarch safely in a hospital, none of which were closer than the Citadel. John let out an aggravated grunt, looking up to the display as well.

"No, there's always an answer. We're just not looking hard enough. Some planet or station somewhere has to be able to care for her. And NOT Omega. There's not enough ammo on board to clean that damn pit up." Anthony looked up again, raising his hand to the map.

"John...just look...there's no place else BUT Omega. Unless we turn around to Noveria again or if there's some kind of hospital still standing on Feros. The only two majorly inhabited systems that are closer to us than the Citadel." John looked up at the charts again, sighing after a long hard stare.

"Yeah...that's what it looks like." Shepard moved over to the console again, not noticing the look on Anthony's face, as if suddenly remembering something. Quickly, he went to another datapad, pulling up the mission brief on Feros. "I guess we set course for Omega, th-"

"Wait a sec!"

John looked over to Anthony, pausing before he hit the button to signal the new course to Joker. Anthony was staring down at the datapad before lowering it again, bringing a hand up to tap himself on the head. "Fuck, I'm thick! I'm damn old and thick! Head's too full of stuff, I need a bigger head! Why didn't I remember this already?" Looking back over to the main display, he walked over, pulling up the briefing on Feros. Looking back to Shepard, he finally noticed the strange look of confusion on his face. "Oh...sorry. Line from an old TV show back in my days. _Doctor Who._ One of my favorites. It just seemed appropriate at the moment, look."

Shepard looked up to the main screen, which was scrolling down to the very end of the brief. "The _SSV Sanctuary_ will be standing by to assist in civilian casualties if necessary. Contact the _Kilimanjaro_ battle-group if the _Sanctuary_ is needed." John grinned as he read aloud, reaching over to pat Anthony on the back. "Alright then, Doctor Who. This will work even better than you think. Computer, give me a real-time connection to the _SSV Kilimanjaro. _Put me through to XO Shepard." Anthony blinked as the comm room dimmed slightly, the map in front of them being replaced by a hologram of a woman who looked to be in her late 50's. She started speaking before she even looked up.

_*Shepard spe-..oh, hi, John.*_ The woman smiled warmly at her son, putting down a datapad she was holding. _*I wish you would have called in an hour. I'm still on shift and don't really have time for a personal call.* _John smiled and shook his head.

"Actually, mom, it's not just a personal call, but it's good to see you again, too. I'm actually calling about the _Sanctuary_. Something came up on our last mission, and I'm going to need them. We're about to have an unfortunate medical emergency." John grinned as he finished speaking, causing the image of his mother to roll her eyes at him.

_*Why do I get the feeling that you're in way over your head, sweetie?* _She almost immediately held up a hand to stop him from answering. _*Wait...no, I'm not sure I want to know. Probibly classified, or something. Plus, the less I know, the less I have to lie later, right?* _John nodded, grinning a little sheepishly.

"Yeah...something like that, mom. Your battle-group is closer to Noveria than the Citadel, right?"

_*Of course. We're in the Exodus Cluster. _Sanctuary_ just picked up some extra relief supplies from Arcturus Station, in fact. I'll send a message to their CO so they know to expect you.* _Shepard nodded.

"Perfect. I'll set a course, and talk to my CMO about this medical emergency. See you soon, mom. _Normandy_ out." The hologram faded and the lights came back up to normal. "Alright, Anthony. We've got some acting to do. Come on."

SCENE BREAK

Once again, the three holograms of the Council lit the far side of the room. "Commander, we were expecting-" The turian stopped in the middle of his sentence as the hologram scanner fully rendered the human they were talking to. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke again. "Who are you and why have you called us? This communications channel is reserved for Spectres."

Anthony stood a little straighter as he spoke, staring down the turian. "My name is Sargent Anthony Snyder. I'm the _Normandy_'s field medic. Commander Shepard and Doctor Chakwas are currently unavailable, so they asked me to contact you and apprise you of the situation." The salarian looked up at this.

"Situation? What has happened?" Anthony took a deep breath, looking downwards slightly.

"I was the one who initially administered the sedative to Lady Benezia. Unfortunately, the combination of my initial dose as well as the drugs that have been keeping her sedated...well...they interacted badly. Her vital signs started to crash. We had to get her somewhere more advanced than our medbay or she would have died. We're currently docked with the Alliance hospital ship _SSV Sanctuary_. Shepard ordered me to let you know as a way of taking responsibility for it." The asari spoke up next. _'What the hell...do they plan this shit out so they can all talk?'_

"And where is Shepard right now?"

"He and Doctor Chakwas are in the middle of transfering Lady Benezia to the _Sanctuary._ They're trying to stabilize her. Since they're some of the best doctors in the Alliance, they sent me to let you know what was happening, rather than let me get in the way. They're going to do the best they can to keep her alive. And before you ask, yes, they have experience with asari physiology." The three councillors looked back and forth at each other a few times. Anthony could see them talking, but apparently they had shut off their microphones for a moment.

After a minute, they faced him again, Councillor Tevos spoke up again. "Very well. While this is not...exactly as we expected, it seems that certain things can not be avoided. We expect Shepard to stay notified of her progress and to include it in his reports. Is that clear, Sargent?"

"Crystal clear, Councillor. I'll let him know." The three holograms winked out of existence and Anthony let out a deep sigh. Slowly turning, he made his way back out of the briefing room. As the door opened, he saw John leaning against the bulkhead on the other side of the hall.

"Well?" Anthony sighed softly, before cracking into a grin.

"They bought it. They're not happy about it, but they're trusting your judgement on this. And they want you to keep in the loop on how she's doing, and when you make another report, you keep THEM in the loop." Shepard smiled as well, walking with Anthony towards the rest of the CIC.

"Right, so they know I'm bullshitting, but they're not calling me on it just yet." Anthony nodded.

"Yep. Fucking politicians, eh?" Shepard nodded, taking his position at the galaxy map, activating the ship's intercom.

"Couldn't have said it better. Alright. All hands, prepare for departure from the _Sanctuary_. Joker, lay in a course with them for Feros. Geth are crawling all over the colony. Time to play exterminator."

SCENE BREAK

Ten hours later, the two ships exited the mass relay near Feros. The _Sanctuary_ took up a position near the relay while the _Normandy_ made a beeline for the colony. Liara chose to stay behind with her mother for the current mission, wishing to attempt an ancient asari healing ritual. The rest of the ground team took the time en route to the colony to suit up and assemble at the airlock.

"Alright everyone," Joker called back from the helm, "I'm not getting any traffic coming from the colony. Not even the automated landing beacons. So not only am I going to have to perform some exceptional flying, but odds are, the docking bay is crawling with baddies, as well." Shepard leveled a glare at Joker, then sighed.

"Just take us in, Joker. Nice and easy. Everyone keep your eyes open. Cover every angle, I don't want us getting taken by surprise here. And check your damn targets." Murmurs of acknowledgement sounded from the rest of the team as the _Normandy_ slid smoothly into the dock. Automated systems brought clamps in to hold the ship steady, and after a few moments, the airlock door slid open, revealing a walkway.

Waving his hand forward, Shepard led the group out of the ship and out to the docks. Weapons were trained at all points for a few moments as the entire team moved onto the platform. After a few moments, once everyone had reported no contacts, Shepard stood and relaxed a little. "Alright, then. Put 'em down, but don't hang 'em up. Motion trackers out to full." As the team started down the dock, Garrus spoke up.

"Got a contact, Shepard. Three blips, one moving toward us." Shepard and the rest of the team raised weapons just in time for a colonist coming around the corner to be greeted with seven barrels pointed straight at him. He immediately crouched down, covering his head.

"Oh, God, please don't kill me!"

Shepard held up a hand, sighing. "Easy...we're not here to kill anyone. I'm Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance. We're here to take care of your geth problem. Can you three take us to the main colony?" The man looked up, a little confused.

"Three? But...Fai Dan sent me alone to-"

"Then get your ass over here and behind us!"

The colonist didn't need to be told twice, and scrambled to his feet. A moment later, he was thrown towards the team as a rocket exploded where he was cowering. Alenko managed to catch the man before he hit anything too damaging. A digital stuttering came from around the corner, followed by a pair of geth.

"Light them up!"

A symphony of assault rifle, shotgun, and pistol fire met the geth, causing the synthetics to shake as rounds tore into their torsos. After a few seconds, each of the geth fell, and the gunfire stopped. Shepard slowly stood and walked over to the two synthetics, keeping his weapon trained on them. Kicking each slightly, he then lowered his rifle, nodding to the team, who all followed suit. The colonist just watched in awe.

"Holy shit...umm...the geth...they're making...another push on the colony...we saw your ship...Fai Dan sent me to...to bring you back to the colony."

Ash looked over to the colonist. "Fai Dan...the head of the colony?" At the man's nod, she continued. "How do we get to the colony? It's probably best if you let us go first."

"Y-yeah, sure. It's just up the stairs over there. Fai Dan is usually on the other side of Zhu's Hope, over by the entrance to the tunnels and the skyway..." John nodded and looked over towards the stairs.

"Alright. We'll leapfrog up the stairs. Just in case any more surprises are up there. Tali, keep him company. Wrex, you and I have point." Wrex nodded and walked up front with his shotgun ready. At a nod, he and Shepard started their way to the stairs, the rest of the team following in a loose group, Tali and the colonist trailing behind.

Halfway up the stairs, a hopper made it's presence known with a round toward Wrex's shield. The krogan roared with rage, leveling his shotgun at the geth. It sprang away from the wall before he could fire, though. Shepard tried to follow it as well, but it's movements were too fast. Chips of stone rained down the stairwell from the missed shots, until a sudden blast caught the synthetic in midair, tearing the artificial muscle to pieces.

Shepard looked behind him, grinning a bit as he saw Ashley lower her shotgun, only holding it from the grip, the barrel glowing a dull orange. "What? You two were taking your sweet time." Shepard just shook his head, motioning to Wrex to keep going. They reached the top of the stairs with no more contacts, the guards behind blockades lowering their weapons when they saw the heavily armed non-geth team emerge into the light. Shepard looked around the colony a bit before turning to his team and giving orders.

"Alright, Snyder, we have a whole colony of victims here. Do your thing. Tali, give him a hand. Kaiden, you and Garrus take a look around, see what we can do to get these people up and running again. Ash, Wrex, you're with me. Let's go have a little chat with Fai Dan."

SCENE BREAK

About an hour later, the three teams met back up near the crane controls, staying far enough from the colonists to prevent eavesdropping, in case the prognosis for the colony wasn't that good. Shepard and his team looked a little worse for wear, as did Garrus and Kaiden. Anthony and Tali were both looking uneasy, though. Shepard looked back and forth.

"Alright, I'll go first. The and catwalks back there were crawling with geth. 'Were' being the key word, here. As long as nothing keeps coming across the skyway, they're good. Next up, Kaiden?" Alenko nodded, clearing his throat a little.

"Well, they definitely had some supply problems. Water was shut down, food rations were low, and there was a transmitter somewhere down in the tunnels for geth reinforcements. We got the water working again, cleared the tunnels, and found some varren down there that they can use to boost their food until more help arrives. I'd say they're solid, now." Anthony looked up as the rest looked to him, looking down at his omni-tool.

"Well, everyone...more or less is in pretty good health. A little malnutrition and dehydration, but now that supplies are good, that should take care of it. There was one woman in the ship, though, that struck me as odd. She seemed to be in extreme pain over something, but I couldn't find anything wrong with her. No broken bones, no nerve disorders...nothing." Garrus looked up at that.

"Actually...that sounds like that kook we saw down in the tunnels. Trying to tell us something, but every time it was like...well, if he was turian, I'd say it was like someone was ripping his mandibles off...I guess human would be ripping out those...'fingernails'?" Most winced at the thought, Anthony nodding.

"Yeah. Something like that. When I asked her husband, he wasn't exactly...forthcoming with information. Like he was trying to hide something, but not let me know it. Badly, I might add. Everyone else, too. A little evasive of my scans at first...something definitely feels off here, boss." Shepard sighed, looking around the colony.

"Right. Well, from what I got from Fai Dan, Exo-Geni Corp has a base of operations on the far side of the skyways. They have one Mako still working in the garage. It's an older model, though, so a few of us are going to have to stay behind. Ash, Kaiden, Garrus, that's you. Do what you can to give these people a hand. Wrex, Tali, Anthony, you're with me. Let's pay a visit to our friendly, neighborhood corporate backers."

The team split up, four heading towards the garage, and three staying with the colony. None noticed small surveillance cameras that had been set up around the open areas of Zhu's Hope, watching and logging their every move.

A/N: I think that's a record for me. Re-written in 4 days! Sorry about the delay, folks. As anyone here on the Eastern Seaboard north of Florida will tell you, that bitch Irene took us for all we had. I've been keeping my local files for The Rift on a network hard drive instead of my laptop, just in case anything happened to it. My laptop survived, the hard drive didn't. From now on, chapters in progress will be sent to the cloud. insert dramatic Windows-esque desk transformation here Anyway, that's first half of Feros down, as well as a bit of shenanigans with Benezia. Great word, that, by the way. _Shenanigans_.

Ok, a poll update and a friendly challenge. First, the poll. It seems there is one solid front-runner so far for the 'Take one for the Team' award. Damn, you all really want to see that person die, huh? Oh, well. Guess if someone's got to go, might as well be them. As for the challenge, it goes out to my fellow Whovians. Name the episode the quote is from and you get a digital cookie. Also, I might find a way to fit your username in somewhere. First one with the correct answer in the review wins. And since last week went all to hell, updates will be every other week from my mark. 3...2...1...Mark.


	12. Spectre Extermination Company

Disclaimer: See Chapter I – Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XII

Spectre Extermination Company

"Just take it easy. I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to take care of your geth problem." The woman in front of them sighed.

"There. You see? You're paranoid, Jeong." The man, Jeong, scowled at the woman.

"And you, Juliana trust too easily." Shepard sighed and took a few steps forward, placing a hand in front of both.

"Okay, time out. Introductions made? Good. Now just tell me where we can find the rest of the geth." Jeong sneered at the team.

"You see? They're not here for us! They just care about the geth! I'm telling you, we should wait for help from ExoGeni to come." Juliana shook her head, turning back to the team.

"Just ignore him. The geth are all holed up at the ExoGeni headquarters. It's just up the skyw-"

"That building is private property, soldier. You remove the geth and nothing else. Understand?" Shepard scowled at the man, Anthony speaking up from the back.

"Commander? Permission to administer...aggressive anesthetic?" Shepard held up his hand.

"Tempting, Snyder...very tempting. But not now. Stand easy."

"Aye, sir. Just my problem with people that put politics before lives acting up." Shepard nodded and turned back to Jeong.

"We'll be back when the building is clear." As they turned to leave, Juliana called out, coming up behind Shepard.

"Commander, wait! At ExoGeni...my daughter, Lizbeth...she wasn't with any of the groups that came this way...and I know she's alive, I can feel it." Jeong looked over to the group again.

"They shouldn't be poking around up there. We can do a proper accounting of the casualties once the geth are gone." Juliana turned on him, a look of pure hate on her face.

"That's my daughter you're talking about, you asshole!" Shepard raised a hand again, moving in between them to stop the argument.

"Juliana, if she's in there, we'll find her. I promise. And you, Jeong, should be grateful I don't ask my krogan friend over here to give you a new hole to eat through." Jeong swallowed hard as he looked over to Wrex. A grinning krogan was never what someone wanted to see, especially when they were what the krogan was grinning at.

Shepard and the team turned and walked back up the ramp from the makeshift shelter, the barricades sliding back into place after they passed. They all looked back as the metal plates met again, a meter high wall stretching across the bottom of the ramp. Climbing up into the Mako, everyone looked at each other. Tali was the first to break the silence.

"John...do you think we'll find her daughter?" Shepard sighed quietly as he thumbed the ignition, the engines roaring to life.

"I don't know, Tali. But if we do or not, these bastards are going to pay." With that, he gunned the throttle, pushing the Mako into the larger ramps toward the rest of the skyway.

As soon as they entered the sunlight again, the shields flared from small-arms fire. The simple troopers Shepard just ran over, metallic bodies crushing under the weight of the APC. Rockets were mostly dodged. Using the thrusters to jump on the exposed skyway was too risky. One strong enough gust of wind while airborne could send them straight over the edge, and it looked a very, _very_ long way down.

When one of the geth walking tanks showed up at the far end, John looked behind him to the turret seat, seeing Tali having taken it this time around. "Tali, we got a big one coming up. Think you can take it out?" Tali nodded, reaching for the turret controls, which sprung to life as her three-fingerd hands took the handgrips. Targeting sensors on the combat display gave her readouts on the mechanical beast in front of them. She reached up and started tapping on her omni-tool.

"Hold on, John...the targeting on this thing is off...I'm re-calibrating. If we don't take that armature out in one go, it'll start firing at us. Dodging that won't be easy on the skyway." Shepard nodded at her words, slowing down a bit to give her time to work. Anthony looked up.

"What did you call it? An 'armature'?" Tali nodded as she re-calibrated the Mako's weaponry.

"Armature-class geth were designed for extreme heavy lifting, building, demolitions, and excavating. They were heavily shielded and armored in case of tunnel collapses while underground. Suppose that wasn't such a good idea, looking back..." Shepard smiled back at Tali.

"Hindsight is 20-20, Tali. I don't know about the rest of the galaxy, but I'm fairly certain humanity doesn't blame your people. And I know _I_ don't." Tali paused for just a moment in her work, and if Anthony didn't know better, he could have sworn the quarian was blushing behind her mask. The fact that her body language almost screamed it, though, was enough. Smiling a bit, he looked back to the forward viewport. _'Note to self: tease the hell out of them later.'_

A few moments later, and with no warning, a thunderous, but muffled, boom sounded through the cabin of the Mako. Anthony and Shepard watched through the viewport as the geth armature recoiled from the round. Piercing the shields and hitting in the center, right below the armored neck. The armature practically folded up on itself, the sudden motion slamming the 'face' into the decking beneath it. With the head damaged, and the main circuits inside pulverized, the geth walking tank gave a token effort to stand before collapsing completely. John and Anthony both smiled at the sight, leaning back in their seats as Tali spoke quietly in Khelish, apparently pleased with the result from her tone.

Shepard gunned the throttle again, making the last push to the towering building that was the repurposed headquarters of Exo-Geni. A geth dropship was a little higher up on the side of the building, attached to it as if some sort of parasite. Anthony looked up towards it. "Well, that's different...looks like it's a parasite on the side of the building." Shepard grinned.

"Good thing we know how to kill parasites, then."

The entryway was fairly deserted, only a pair of recon drones hanging around, which were quickly dispatched. The remains of the ruined prothean building were in a stark contrast to the more modern systems installed for the researchers and, more recently, the geth. When the path into the research facility was blocked by a geth barrier, the team had little other choice but to jump down into what appeared to be a storm drain.

Turning the corner into the storm drain, all four swiveled to their right as a shot pinged off of Anthony's shields, weapons coming up, only to level on another human, one who looked to be a researcher, in similar clothing to the ones taking refuge across the skyway. The woman raised her hands, slowly walking out of her hidey-hole and towards the team.

"I'm so sorry...I heard you coming, I thought you were geth...or more varren." Shepard nodded and took his helmet off to try and put the obviously frazzled woman at ease. Anthony followed suit, Wrex and Tali hanging back to secure the rest of the area. "Everyone else started running...I was stupid enough to stay and back up data...next thing I knew, the power went out and there were geth all over the place." Shepard smiled reassuringly to the woman.

"I've taken down more than a few geth in the past few weeks. They haven't stopped me yet." The woman shook her head.

"No, it's not the geth, it's that damned barrier they put up. I guess they don't want anyone else getting to...umm..." Here, she trailed off, looking quite embrassed at herself. Anthony stepped forward a little.

"Miss, what's your name?" She looked up.

"Baynham. Elizabeth Baynham." Anthony smiled warmly.

"Your mom's name Juliana?" At Lizbeth's nod, Anthony stepped a little closer. "She and a few other of the researchers made it out. They're at the halfway building between here and Zhu's Hope. Even they're alive, too. But we're going to need some help. If we knew why the geth were here, maybe we can find out better how to keep them from hurting anyone else." Lizbeth sighed and nodded, looking down a little.

"I don't know for sure, but...I think they're here for the Thorian." Shepard looked confused.

"What's a Thorian?" Lizbeth looked back up.

"It's a life form unique to Feros, as far as we can tell. Exo-Geni was studying it. I don't know all that much...my mom was one of the heading researchers on it, though. She would know more. But that barrier is in the way. Most of the power to the facility is down, so they must be powering it from that geth ship. It would explain why the geth were laying what looked to be power cables all over the place, too." Shepard and Anthony nodded, both pulling their helmets back on. As the woman took a step forward, holding the pistol tightly, Anthony spoke up again.

"Liz, it might be a better idea if you stayed here. No telling what the geth have throughout the building. Once we get the barrier down, we'll call for you from the hole we came through over there. We can help you up and then get you back to your mom. Sound fair?" Liz nodded softly.

"Yeah. Ok. Here...take this, though. It should get you through any security doors around here." She reached up to her shoulder, pulling her ID card off and holding it out to them. Shepard took it and nodded, before turning again, leading the three others away and towards a maintenance hatch. Liz stepped back into her hiding spot, feeling much better now that at least _someone_ was here to help.

* * *

><p>After fighting through the geth soldiers throughout the building, the team finally came to one of the loading bays. Three 'legs' of the dropship were anchored into the building, sticking through the opened bay doors. Tali looked up at the exposed 'legs' and the metal beneath the armor on them. "If we're going to do this, It's going to have to be here, somehow. These look to be the main supports for the ship. Take them out and the ship won't be able to stay on. And if all of it's power is coming in through these cables, it shouldn't be able to keep from hitting the surface."<p>

Shepard looked up at the metal jutting into the building, Wrex, Tali, and Anthony starting to search the room. Wrex looked up, following Shepard's gaze. "Shepard, some explosives on the joints should take it out. Make a big boom, in any case." Shepard shook his head.

"No, Wrex, I don't know what this might happen. These buildings are too damn old. Blowing up the ship, good. Blowing up the building, bad." Wrex just grunted and kicked the nearest 'leg', causing Shepard to chuckle a bit as he looked up, tracing some of the cables. A few led behind a piece of fallen scrap from the ceiling. John walked over and pushed the scrap out of the way, revealing a geth terminal, still powered and connected to the ship. Looking over his shoulder, he called out. "Hey, Tali! You might want to see this!"

The young quarian looked over, and once she saw what Shepard was standing in front of, she all but sprinted to the console. "Keelah! This console is still connected to the ship! Even if I can't force it off, I might be able..." She trailed off as she accessed the console. Her six fingers flew over the holographic controls. Apparently, since her people made the geth in their image, the geth also created things that were simple for themselves, and by extention, the quarians, to use. Lifting her omni-tool, she downloaded a set of files to it from the ship. The transfer got just over half before the entire console went dark. "Bosh'tet!" Everyone looked a little taken aback, especially Shepard, at hearing Tali use what sounded like a curse.

"Tali...what did you manage to get?" Tali sighed softly, shutting down her omni-tool after checking how much she got.

"Some navigational data from this dropship, but more importantly, I was able to get some of the geth history, after they drove us from the Veil. Nobody knows what the geth were doing up until now. This would be perfect...oh...for my Pilgrimage...if you'll let me have it, that is..." John smiled and nodded.

"Tali, of course you can take that back to the fleet. Why would I say no? You're the one that got it." Tali once again gave the impression that she was blushing behind her visor.

"Well...this is _your_ mission. Anything that is found belongs to you...it's a quarian tradition." Shepard smiled and shook his head.

"But it's your data. How about this? Throw a copy into the _Normandy_ so I can give it to the Council and the Alliance brass, and we'll call it even? Deal?" Tali nodded enthusiastically, actually hugging Shepard for a moment before pulling away just as quickly. Anthony smiled and called over from the other side of the room, near some machinery.

"Oi! Either get a room, you two, or come over here! I think I found something." Tali, John, and Wrex looked over, spotting Anthony in front of looked to be some large hydraulic controls. The others walked over, Anthony grinning as he held up a small datapad, a piece of tape actually hanging off the top. "The door controls. And wouldn't you know it, the controls are broken. Too little pressure, and it won't move the door. Too much pressure, and the safety kicks in. Hit it just right, and according to this, it'll cut straight through a steel I-beam." Shepard grinned.

"Or a dropship leg. Alright, let's see what we can do." John and Anthony walked over to the controls, checking the repair note as they went. After a few tries, and more than one shutdown, they were finally able to dial in the pressure just right. Shepard turned to the others. "Alright, everyone. Keep sharp. Hopefully this works, but if it doesn't, things can go really bad really fast here. Snyder, you found it, you hit the button." Anthony nodded and moved over to the main door control. Looking over to the doors, he let his hand hover over the button.

"Everyone ready?" Anthony turned to check, only to see Tali and Shepard hiding around a nearby pillar, only Wrex standing beside him. He sighed and shook his head, muttering quietly. "Yeah...thanks, John. Got my back, do you?" This brought a chuckle from Wrex, which was drowned out as Anthony brought his hand down, activating the doors. With the horrible sound of rending metal, the doors shot upwards, pausing for only a moment when they made contact, then slicing clean through the ship 'legs'.

A scraping sound from the outside slowly grew fainter, the power from the ship being cut as it fell away. Shepard and Tali stepped out around the pillar, walking over to the other two. Shepard looked to the severed part of the ship. "Well, that takes care of that. That barrier should have lost power. Anyone care to-" Shepard was interrupted by the radio crackling to life.

_*-yone there? Normandy to shore par-come on, Commander, answer me!*_ Nobody liked the way Joker sounded, Shepard answering immediately. "I'm here, Joker, what's wrong?"

Relief sounded through the pilot's voice for a moment. _*Dammit, finally. Commander, something's up with the colonists! We're on lockdown over here. They're clawing and banging on the hull, trying to get in. They're going to scratch the paint! They're completely freaking out!*_ Shepard sighed and shook his head. "Leave it to him to be worried about the paint. Alright, Joker, just hold tight, we're on our way. Just don't let them in, they can't do any real damage." Cutting Joker off before he could reply, he keyed in the squad frequency. "Alenko, status report!" Kaiden's voice came across, as well as some gunfire in the background.

_*Pinned down at the moment, Commander! The colonists started going ape-shit a few minutes ago, and these...hell, all I can call them are zombies, started popping up! Williams and I are taking out the zombies, and Garrus has some kind of concussive rounds he was able to get his rifle to fire.*_ Garrus' voice cut into the transmission, here._ *They're not dead, but they're going to have one hell of a headache when they wake up.*_ Shepard shook his head. "Alright, we're coming to you. Whatever those things are, take them out. I don't want any of the colonists put down, though. Shepard out."

Turning to the rest of the team, Shepard's face hardened. "Alright, people. Back to the colony, double time!"

* * *

><p>Shepard, Wrex, Tali, and Anthony walked into the colony, weapons raised if they needed them, only to find the colonists all on the ground, obviously still breathing, but unconscious. Rounding the corner of the freighter, they saw Garrus, Ash, and Kaiden standing near the crane controls. Shepard spoke up. "Garrus, I have to say, I'm impressed. We found some survivors back there. They gave us a gas that would knock the people out. It's an infection of some kind." Shepard pulled two grenades loaded with the nerve agent and handed them to the turian. "There's a few colonists by the <em>Normandy<em>. These should take them down. We're headed under to take care of the cause. And believe me, it's one hell of a story."

Garrus took the grenades and nodded, walking off to join Ash and Kaiden heading towards the docking bay. Shepard went to the crane controls. The interface came to life as he approached. Keying in the controls, the crane arm swung over, lowering a clamp that latched onto the freighter, lifting a section, allowing access to a stairway beneath.

Down the stairs was a short hallway, leading into a large underground chamber. Wrex growled impatiently. "So where's this Thorian...thing...?" Wrex trailed off as the group came to the edge. Hanging in front of them was an enormous, obviously alive, mass of...something. Shepard peeked over the edge, giving a short whistle at the height. Tali looked up at the creature in wonder.

"_That's_ the Thorian? Keelah..." Anthony nodded softly, looking over at the ancient plant as well.

"Ok...so it's a plant, right? Anyone know if they still make Weed-B-Gone? I think we're going to need a few of their biggest size..." The plant mass moved a little closer to the spot where the team stood, it's movements very jerky and almost sickly. Anthony took a step back. "Okay...if it had a stomach...I would say it looks like it's going to blow chunks..."

Out of a slit in the skin of the Thorian, a form slid out, landing on the ground. Straightening, the form stepped forward, the plant retreating a little, revealing a green-skinned asari. One that was looking at the team like she was seriously pissed off. "Invaders! Your every step a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose. I speak for the Old Growth, as I did for Saren." She raised her arms, as if to display the creature behind her. "You are within and before the Thorian! It commands you to be in awe!" Shepard stepped forward.

"Thorian, you gave something to Saren. Something I need to stop him." The asari woman turned a little, walking to the side a few steps.

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are long gone. The Thorian listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made..." She then stopped, facing the group again. Rage filled her eyes. "Then, cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle...flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!" The woman turned again, facing the plant. Anthony stepped forward again, even with John. Looking over, he asked a single word.

"Shotgun?" John thought for a moment, facing the asari before nodding.

"Shotgun." The two reached behind them to the small of the back, pulling their shotguns from the clamps that held them. As the weapons unfolded, the asari continued to speak, still facing the plant.

"No longer will the Thorian listen to those that scurry! Your lives are short, but have-"

*BANG*

The two shotgun blasts sounded as one, tearing into the asari. The body practically disintegrated from the blasts, green sludge spattering out instead of purple blood. The Thorian made a sound that could only be called enraged. Shepard and Anthony both grinned, lowering their weapons. "You know, sir...I'm no plant expert, but I think we just pissed it off." John nodded.

"I think we did. Now the real question is how do we kill it?" The two looked around the chamber a little, looking for a weakness to the plant. Maybe something to do with those tentacl-

"Ummm...boys?"

Both turned to Tali's worried voice to see what Kaiden had described as 'zombies' trudging toward the group from a side hallway. Anthony's eyes widened. "Fuck." One of the zombies opened it's mouth, a screeching sound coming from it, as well as a spray of the same green sludge the fake asari had melted into. Tali and Wrex both dodged the spray, Wrex pulling out his shotgun as he did so, opening fire with abandon at the creatures. Anthony looked over to him. "Wrex, aim for the head and neck!"

His aim switched almost immediately, his next blast severing the zombie's head completely, the body collapsing limply to the ground. The rest of the team raised shotguns as well, due to the close quarters, and everyone took aim. Shots rang out as the creatures fell, piling up slightly. The four started to push into the hallways, a constant hail of ammunition in front of them. When Shepard shot one that was standing in front of some strange mass attached to the wall, another roar emerged from the Thorian.

John looked curious for a moment, before raising his weapon again, firing once more into the pulsing mass in front of him. Again, the Thorian roared, and he smiled. "Concentrate fire on these nodes! They hurt it, and I think they're what's keeping this bastard anchored." All four began firing at the node, until the force of their blasts tore the plant matter apart, half staying attached to the wall, the rest falling out through the hole in the wall from the main chamber. Wrex chuckled.

"Looks like that's how we kill this thing. Good."

Moving through the chambers, they continued to fight off zombies, as well as a few more 'incarnations' of the green-skined asari, taking out nodes as they went. Finally, they hit the tipping point at the fourth. The rest of them were no longer strong enough to support the Thorian. It let out a sound almost like a scream as it realized what was happening. Moving into an area where they all could see it, they watched as it slowly ripped away from the walls from it's own weight. As the last few nodes failed, it screeched as it plumeted through the chamber. With a great thud and a splat, the Thorian was crushed as it hit the bottom of the chamber a few hundred feet below. Shepard looked over the edge and down towards it. When he saw no movement, he nodded and turned.

On the wall,, however, there was movement. A piece of plant matter that looked to be a pod of some kind was slowly dissolving, revealing another asari from, but this one was the normal blue. A small gash on her cheek showed that her blood was indeed purple, making her a little less of a threat so far. The asari looked around, a little dazed, but glad to be set loose from whatever imprisonment she was under.

"I...I'm free!"

* * *

><p>Back on the <em>Normandy<em>, the team sat in the briefing room, listening in on the report John was giving to the Council. All seemed to agree that Shepard had done the best he could, aside from possibly saving the Thorian for study. That was put down as not being an option, due to the threat it posed.

"Thank you for your report, Comnnader. We have one more item for you." Shepard looked to the salarian as he spoke, nodding. "We received a message from one of our infiltration units. We currently have several of them scattered throughout the Attican Traverse. This particular one was gathering intel on Saren." Shepard nodded.

"What was the message?" The Councillor shook his head.

"Litle more than static, I'm afraid. The team must be in a situation where they are unable to set up proper interstellar communications. But the message came to us on a frequency reserved for mission-critical information. And these are top STG operatives. So whatever they were sending, it must be important. I'm forwarding their coordinates to you now. Considering your current assignment, we thought you might want to look into it further." Shepard nodded as he raised his omni-tool, looking at the data as it came across.

"Thank you, Councillors. I'll look into this immediately." The Council nodded, almost as one, and their holograms winked out. Turning back to the rest of the team, Shepard leaned back on the railing. "Alright. Anyone have anything to add?" Ash looked over.

"Commander, did that cypher thing the asari on the planet gave your mind...is it working at all?" Shepard sighed and shrugged.

"Aside from a bit of a headache, not really." Liara looked up, a little more optimistic.

"Commander, I think it might be working already, though. The vision you had...you said it was jumbled? Out of order? The Cypher might be putting it into more sense, now. If you'll let, me...I can try something." Shepard thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Do it. Maybe we'll find something useful." Liara nodded and stood, walking over.

"Relax, Shepard. Take slow, deep breaths." She and John faced each other, standing only about a foot apart. Closing her eyes, she continued. "Let go of your physical shell. See the universe around and within." Liara suddenly opened her eyes, which looked slightly disturbing, since they were completely black. "Embrace Eternity!" Shepard's eyes shot open as well, but they were unfocused, his entire body shaking a little as he was plunged into his vision. After a few moments, both stumbled back. Ash was close enough to put a steadying hand on John as he staggered, and Anthony was the nearest one to Liara, moving forward to catch her as she nearly collapsed from the strain.

After a few moments, she started to come around again. "By...by the Goddess..." Anthony helped her up, opening his omni-tool to do a basic scan.

"Hey, you alright?" Liara nodded slowly, as she tried to compose herself.

"Yes...I wasn't expecting the visions to be so...intense. Commander, you are remarkably strong-willed. What happened to you with the beacon would have destroyed a lesser mind. But...the images are still jumbled. Incomplete. Parts of it are missing." Alenko looked over.

"Well, the damn thing exploded while it was doing whatever it did. Must have been more broken than we thought." Liara nodded, still staggering a little as she went to sit. Anthony helped her to her seat. Shepard spoke up again.

"Maybe you should let Snyder take you down to the med-bay. Just in case." Liara sighed and nodded slowly standing again, using Anthony to help steady herself.

"Yeah, that would be best. After joining with the Commander's mind, I'd want some drugs, too." Anthony teased a little, causing most of the crew to at least chuckle a bit. Shepard jut grinned and made a shooing motion with his hands. Ash took the chance to speak up.

"So, where are the Council sending us now?" Shepard looked at his omni-tool for a moment, sending the information to the ship, and then pulling up the display. A lush planet appeared on the screen, filed with waterfalls, rivers, oceans, and forrests.

"Ladies and gentlemen, next stop, Vermire."

* * *

><p>AN: Dun-dun-DUNNNN! And another main mission down, and here comes the big one! Okay, since it's so important to this, here's an update on the poll. As of the posting of this chapter, the top three are 15 votes, 9 votes, and 7 votes. Just to make sure that I have everyone's attention: YOU GET TO CHOOSE! I posted the poll at chapter 7. There have been over 300 visitors to this story since then, and only 20 voters. I just want to make sure everyone knows before I close the poll. So, head to my profile and get your last-minute votes in! Voting will close at 0000 hours Eastern Standard Time, October 1. For those of you that don't get military time or time zones, that means that when I post the next chapter on 9/30, you have until midnight in New York City to vote. Then, I close the voting and write the chapter, killing off the person that wins(looses?).

Anyway, another note. Every so often, I'm going to throw quotes from some of my favorite movies and TV shows in. It'll only be one a chapter, and they are not going to be announced like I did in the last chapter. In lieu of cyber-cookies, the first person to spot the quote and correctly identify the speaker and source in a review will gain the power to ask one question from me about the story, to be turned in at your discretion. No holds barred, I'll answer it. Even if it blatantly gives away something. I only ask that those that win keep the knowledge to themselves. If I find out someone is telling, then the whole contest thing stops. To the last winner, send me a PM when you read this and you can choose: Your username somewhere in the story, or a question. Until then, everyone!


	13. A Stroll through the Valley

Disclaimer: See Chapter I – Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XIII

A Stroll through the Valley

The cargo hold of the _Normandy_ was alive with activity. After leaving Feros and the _Sanctuary_ behind, the team had spent the time getting weapons and armor ready for whatever might have found them on the surface of Virmire. The Mako had been tuned and patched up to full fighting strength. Armor had been checked and double checked to ensure proper operations. Weapons for the entire squad had been heavily overhauled and upgraded, thanks to a care package Captian Hannah had sent along from the _Kilimanjaro_'s armory. Liara had parted from her mother, leaving her in the care of the _Sanctuary_'s medical teams, and was now back on board the _Normandy_.

Shepard, XO Pressly, and Anthony were in the CIC as the ship came close to the relay that led to Virmire's system. The message sent from the STG team was, indeed, nothing but static. And it was only about a minute long of static, so it wasn't a mission report, or anything so benign. The ships' sensors had been upgraded slightly, as well, thanks to some help from Tali, so they could peek in on the planet from even further a distance. The hologram that normally projected a map of the Galaxy had been replaced with one of their destination, overlaid with the latest Council surveys of the surface.

Joker's voice came over the comm next to the small podium-like platform Shepard was standing on. _*Commander, we're just about at the relay. Awaiting your order.* _Shepard nodded, reaching over and touching a spot over the panel. "Copy that, Joker. Take us through. As soon as we're back to normal space, I want the IES up and the main drive systems offline. Mass effect drive only. If Saren's here, I don't want him to know we're anywhere near until we can offer a tissue when he sneezes." Joker's voice came back after a small chuckle. _*Aye-aye, sir. And...thank you for the lovely image.*_ Shepard grinned. "That's what I'm here for, Joker." Shepard cut the comm off and looked back at the map. "Well, staring at this thing isn't going to help anymore. Once we get closer, we can find out exactly what's going on. Until then, keep yourselves busy. Dismissed." Pressly and Anthony both gave John a sharp salute as he turned from the platform, making his way to the stairs and down to the crew deck.

Anthony sighed and looked back to the map for a moment, staring at the surface of Virmire, before reaching down to the row of displays and interfaces that circled the image, hitting a holographic button to return it to the normal galaxy map. Turning back to the Nav Officer, he saw him pull a datapad off a small shelf under the consoles, beginning to type away at it. "Updating the log, XO?" Pressly looked up and shook his head.

"Hell, that log gets updated almost more than I'd like to admit, Snyder. No, just a personal journal. I keep one for every ship I serve on. Lets me look back through the years at what an asshole I used to be." Pressly gave a grin, which Anthony returned, shaking his head. "I send them back home, usually. Lets my brother feel like he's in on the action, as well. I keep the classified stuff out of it. The one I have from the _Agincourt _is the only one that I'll never let go of." Anthony looked over, curious.

"The _Agincourt_? Why's that one so special?" Pressly sighed and stopped writing for a moment. He then looked up at Anthony, but he could tell the older man wasn't looking at him as much as looking _through_ him. The slight distortion of passing through the mass relay washed over them and the rest of the ship. Anthony still felt like his stomach had just done a somersault, but at least he was able to keep his footing now. Pressly was unfazed by the slight jolt, merely reaching out with a hand instinctively to steady his footing on the console.

"I was stationed on the _Agincourt _for the battle of Elysium, during the Blitz. If word ever got out I had that, I'd have media all over me for the damn thing. Very little got out other than the official military reports. Alliance says we held them off and came through victorious. Truth was, they got their asses kicked down on the surface until the fleet came in." He nodded his head towards the platform. "Commander was down there on the surface. Held off a few dozen batarian slavers damn near single-handed. Got the Star of Terra for it, too. Highest military decoration." Anthony whistled at the thought.

"Damn...well...you should keep that one safe, too, I think. Being on deck with the first human Spectre? I wouldn't be surprised if some crazy paparazzi tries to stow away to get their hands on it." Pressly nodded and grinned as he returned to his typing. Anthony walked back to the stairs as well, making his way down to his and Liara's quarters. Giving a nod to Dr. Chakwas as he walked by, he put his hand across his eyes as the door opened. "Safe to look, Liara?" The asari doctor turned and smiled a little as she saw Anthony enter.

"Yes, you're safe, Anthony." His hand came away from his eyes and he looked over to his roommate.

"You doing alright?" Liara nodded and turned back to her notes, page after page of notebooks filled with flowing asari script, rubbings of ancient ruins, and diagrams of dig sites.

"For the moment. While I am still worried about my mother, another puzzle is stuck in my mind that I just can't let go of. The Conduit. I've looked through every note from every dig I've ever been on. Very few reference the Mu relay that mother mentioned, and none of those even hint at the Conduit." Anthony looked down at some of the rubbings and maps, barely even looking at the writings, unable to read asari.

"Well...if anyone on board is going to figure it out, you can. Half a century of studying the protheans is stuck somewhere in your head. It'll all come together eventually." Liara smiled and nodded, looking back to her notes.

"It's as if...what I'm looking for is sitting right in front of me, and yet, it's hidden. It's quite frustrating." Anthony nodded, leaning against the wall for a moment. He was about to suggest something else when Shepard's voice came across the intercom. _*Ground team to the briefing room.*_ Looking up to the speaker, he pushed off from the wall.

"I guess those sensor tweaks Tali did must have come through." Liara nodded as she stood as well, following Anthony out of the room.

SCENE BREAK

Anthony watched from the side of the cargo bay as Garrus, Shepard, Ashley, and Kaiden all climbed into the Mako. Scans had shown massive anti-air batteries surrounding the location of the STG signal source, which was nearby to a large structure that had never been on any map or survey of the planet before. It had been decided that a team would take the Mako down and take out the AA guns on the far side of the island, letting the _Normandy_ make it's way down. He walked over as Garrus leaned over to pull the hatch closed. "Commander, you sure you don't want me along, just in case?" Shepard leaned over from the driver's seat just enough to look out.

"Snyder, I appreciate the concern, but no. We're going in hard and fast to take out these guns. I need long range and heavy hitters on this op. With any luck, we won't even have to get out of the Mako. If anyone gets hit, medi-gel can hold them until we get to the LZ." Anthony nodded and stood sharply at attention, snapping off a salute.

"Good hunting, then, sir." John nodded and Garrus pulled the hatch closed, sealing it. Raising his omni-tool, he keyed up the internal comm to Joker. "Mako's all buttoned up, Joker. They're good to drop whenever you're ready."

_*Gotcha. Heading in to drop zone.*_ Anthony started walking over to the rear of the bay, raising his voice as he walked, making sure to get the attention of the few crew that were down there. "Alright, people, hot drop imminent! Secure your stations and get behind the barriers! Move it!" The sound of tools hastily being put away and containers being sealed answered him, footsteps following him as he walked into the short hallway to engineering. Hitting a panel beside the bulkhead, a barrier field sprung to life, sealing them from the cargo bay. Once again, he called to Joker. "Alright, bay's clear. Ten credits says they're wide by at least twenty meters." _*Oh, you are on!*_

A crack sounded as the bay door swung open, revealing the pristine planet they were currently skimming the surface of. A moment later, the Mako shot forward, rolling out of the bay and entering freefall. The door slowly closed afterwards, and only once it was secure did Anthony deactivate the barrier. Linking his omno-tool into the sensors for a moment, he cursed as he saw the Mako landing near dead-center on the marker. Takign the elevator up a deck, he made his way to his quarters to armor up.

Once in full armor, minus the helmet he secured to his shoulder with another magnetic strap, he made his way upwards to watch from the best vantage point. As he passed Pressly on his way to the bridge, he watched the older man studying the sensors monitoring the Mako's progress. Walking through the hallway, he reached into a small compartment on the belt-line of his armor, pulling out a credit chit. As he walked onto the bridge, he dropped it on the pilot's head. "Here, you smug ass." Joker chuckled as he picked up the chit, quickly pocketing it.

"Never bet against the house, Ant. Especially when I'm the one flying it." His fingers flew across the controls as he dodged some fire from the AA guns, taking the _Normandy_ out of range. Leaning back as the guns stopped firing, he looked over as Anthony leaned against the console beside him. "Well, you look all ready to kick some ass. Expecting there's going to be something left down there to do it?" Anthony looked out the viewport, nodding toward the operations area.

"Well, that's a lot of firepower, down there. Somebody wants to keep something hidden real bad. I'm going to guess there's going to be more than enough for everyone. Only one that may still want more is Wrex." Joker nodded, putting the ship into a more stable holding pattern.

The two kept an impatient silence for nearly a half hour before the comm once again crackled to life from the planet. _*Shepard to Normandy. Come on down. Door's open for you.*_ Joker once again piloted the ship down towards the landing zone, giving a fly-by of the Mako as it drove on. Anthony lightly clapped Joker on the shoulder. "I'll go get the rest of the ground team. Just don't run to the store, or anything." Joker rolled his eyes as Anthony walked away.

"Yeah, okay, dad."

SCENE BREAK

"What? One ship is all the Council sent? I told them to send a fleet!" The salarian captain in charge of the STG group, Kirrahe, was shocked as Shepard and the ground team gathered around. John shook his head.

"Your transmission came through as nothing but static. The Council sent me to investigate." Kirrahe seemed even more frustrated at that.

"That would be a repetition of our task. I've lost half of my team _investigating_ this place." Kaiden spoke up next.

"Well, what did you find out?" Kirrahe pulled up his omni-tool, an orange hologram of a large building appearing above his palm.

"Saren has constructed a massive research facility, and is using it as his base of operations. It's extremely well fortified and absolutely crawling with geth." Anthony looked at the hologram of the building.

"Well, if you're going to make a base, might as well make a statement. Any clue what he's researching in there?" Kirrahe nodded, lowering his arm, the hologram fading.

"Yes. Bio-engineering, mostly. He's actually using the base to breed an army of krogan. They're all tank-bred, but they're growing fast." Wrex looked over, having ignored most of the salarian's report.

"How? How is that possible?"

"Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the genophage." Wrex's jaw nearly dropped, his eyes wide with the possibility of a cure. Anthony looked over, curious.

"Wait a second. When Wrex joined the crew, I looked up medical records about the krogan. I thought the genophage was designed to be impossible to cure?" Kirrahe crossed his arms.

"It WAS. We're not exactly a medical team, human. We don't know how Saren did it, only that this base must be destroyed and it's secrets buried with it." Wrex seemed to snap out of it when he heard that, his voice getting a low, almost dangerous quality.

"Destroyed? I don't think so. My people are dying. This cure could save them." Kirrahe just shook his head.

"If that cure leaves the planet, the krogan could become unstoppable. We are not going to make the same mistake twice." Wrex actually growled, now, walking up to Kirrahe, raising a hand to point in his face.

"Listen very closely, salarian, because I'm only going to say this once. We. Are. Not. A mistake." looking as if he was about to tear Kirrahe apart for a moment, he stormed off toward the side. The captain watched Wrex stalk off for a moment before looking over to e rest of the team.

"Is he going to be a problem? We have enough pissed-off krogan running around here." Shepard sighed and nodded, walking off towards Wrex.

"I'll talk with him, don't worry. Anthony, Ash, walk with me." The two looked at each other before shrugging, following after their commander. Shotgun blasts started to echo thorugh the small valley as Wrex began firing into the water. A few meters away, John turned, facing the two. "I'm going to try to talk to him, make him see reason. I don't want to have to think like this, but I want you both in position. In case." Ashley and Anthony both nodded, Ash taking her assault rifle from it's clamps, making it look like she was adjusting it. Anthony sighed as he watched Shepard walk closer. He followed behind a few steps, so he could still hear what was being said.

Wrex looked up as John approached, his voice low, and laced with anger. "This isn't right, Shepard. If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destoy it!" Shepard shook his head.

"Can't you see this has to be done? Saren's the enemy, not me." Shepard took another step forward, pointing in the direction of the research facility. "HE's the asshole, Wrex." Wrex turned to Shepard and took a few steps closer.

"Oh, really? Saren _created_ a cure for my people. You...you want to _destroy_ it! The lines between friend and foe are starting to get a little blurred from where I stand..." Shepard stepped closer as well, only a few arm lengths between the two, now. Ashley no longer pretended to adjust her rifle, watching the exchange closely in case it went too far.

"This isn't a cure, it's a weapon! If we allow Saren to use it, you, your people..._nobody_ will be left standing to reap the benefits." Wrex growled again, now getting right in John's face,.

"Then that's a chance we should take! We're talking about the future of my entire people, here, Shepard! If you can't give me a better reason to destroy the hopes of my people..." Here, wrex took a step back, pulling his shotgun and leveling it at John's chest. At such a close range, and with shields deactivated, the blast would tear through his armor as if it was barely there. "...then I'm done with you." Shepard raised his own shotgun, leveling it at Wrex's face.

"Damnit, Wrex, I can't let you jeopardize this mission! This is more than just your people we're talking about!" Wrex growled again, dangerously. Hearing it, Ash leveled her weapon at the krogan as well. Anthony just stood there, shaking his head, trying to think.

"After all this time, that's all I get? How can you not see what this means to my people? I can't let you just destory this base!" Both soldiers stared each other down. Anthony started walking over, holding his arms out to each side to show he wasn't armed.

"Wrex? You gotta listen to Shepard. Think about it...that asari back on Feros. Saren gave her to the Thorian." Shepard looked over to Anthony out of the corner of his eye.

"Snyder, stand down!" Anthony shook his head.

"Commander, you said at the start of this you want everyone to speak their minds. Well, I'm doing that now, same as Wrex is. But Wrex, you've got to see, Saren is using these krogan in here as tools. He doesn't care, same as he did with Shiala. As soon as he doesn't need them anymore, he'll wipe them out. Is that what you want for your people? To be at the whim of a madman?" Wrex growled for a moment, then slowly, he lowered his shotgun. Shepard followed suit, Ashley doing the same a moment later.

"No. We were puppets for the Council once...in thanks for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us. I doubt Saren will be as generous. Alright...you both made your points." Wrex turned towards the water again, his voice quiet. "We do it your way, Shepard. We make this base disappear." Shepard sighed and nodded, turning and starting to walk away. Wrex called out one last time. "Shepard!" As John looked back, Wrex turned his head the smallest bit, staring him down out of the corner of his eye. "When we find Saren...I want his head." Shepard gave a firm nod.

"You'll have it. I promise." As Wrex turned back to stare in the water, John looked over to Anthony, making a 'come here' motion with his finger. Anthony walked over to Shepard as he walked a little further away. "Want to tell me what the hell that was?" Anthony sighed quietly.

"If Wrex is set on anything, it's his honor. Showing how close this is to what happened with the Council was the only thing I could think of to snap him out of it. Full team or not, I'd rather not have to attempt to patch a hole in a krogan forehead." John nodded as he walked over toward the salarians again, Ash falling into step as the two passed.

"Fine, but if you're going to make a habit of disobeying my orders, just make sure you start to warn me first?" Anthony nodded.

"Aye, Commander." Stopping in front of the salarian camp, Kirrahe walked out of a small circle of his men, looking over to see Wrex still standing off to the side, but not firing anymore.

"Well, it's better than nothing. Thank you for talking to him. This assault is going to be difficult enough as it is." Shepard looked up for a moment.

"I take it you've come up with a plan, then?" At Kirrahe's nod, Shepard waved the rest of his team over. "Alright, then, lay it on us."

"We can convert our ship's drive system into a twenty kiloton ordinance. Crude, but effective. Should be more than enough to erase this base from existance. Unfortunately, standard orbital drop would be ineffective. The base is far to well fortified. It will have to be placed with no small amount of precision." Garrus looked over to the salarian, his voice full of disbelief.

"So how do we get the bomb in? Carry it?" Kirrahe shot Garrus a dirty look for a moment before continuing.

"Obviously not. We'll have to go in and pacify any ground forces in the base, as well as take out the rest of the AA guns just on the far side. That will give your ship an opening to deliver the bomb, allow us to get it set up, and to get out before it goes off." Kaiden shook his head.

"You're crazy. You want us to go in there on foot?" Kirrahe nodded.

"It's risky, yes, but we don't believe there's any other way. With your team joining us, however, I think we have a way to make this work. I'm going to divide my men into three teams to hit the front of the facility. With the attention on us, you can sneak a shadow team around the back." Shepard thought for a moment, slowly nodding.

"Well, it sounds like it's going to work...but there's a lot of risk on your part. With the entire base focused on you, it soinds like you're going to get hit pretty hard." Kirrahe nodded, looking away for a moment.

"Yes...it is dangerous. I honestly don't expect many of my men to make it out of this. That makes what I'm about to ask even harder." Looking back to Shepard, he steeled himself as he spoke. "I'm going to need one of your men with my teams, to help coordinate both of our teams." Kaiden spoke up.

"Having someone that knows Alliance communications equipment and protocols to contact both Shepard's team as well as the _Normandy. _I volunteer, Commander." Ash looked over to Alenko, raising her hand.

"Wait a second, LT. Shepard's going to need you to help arm the nuke. I'll go." Kaiden shook his head.

"With all due respect, Gunnery Chief, it's not your place to decide." Ash grumbled a little, unnder her breath.

"Why is it when someone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'?" Shepard turned back to the two, his voice stern, and an edge to his gaze.

"Stow it, both of you! Kaiden, Ash is right. Aside from Tali, you're the one with the better tech expertise, in case something needs to change with the bomb. Get yourself set up in the _Normandy_ with the bomb. Ash, you're with Kirrahe's men, take whatever supplies you think you might need. No heroics, from either of you. Understood?"

Both soldiers snapped to attention at John's tone, a simultaneous "Aye, sir!" coming from the two. Kirrahe nodded to Shepard.

"Very well. In that case, I need to go and brief my men." The salarian turned and walked off toward the rest of the camp, leaving Shepard's team aside. Ash smiled a little.

"Alright...don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, LT." Grinning over to John, she added, "You, too, Commander." Kaiden put his hand on Ash's shoulder for a moment.

"Hey, you'll see everyone on the other side. You'll see." Ashley nodded, fidgeting a little.

"Yeah, I know, it's just...well, good luck." Shepard looked over to Ash.

"Something you want to say, Chief?" Ash looked a little sheepish as she answered.

"You know, it's just going under someone else's command. I've gotten used to you. Everyone." Ash met each team member's eyes in turn as she spoke, coming as close as she could for Tali. "It's been an honor serving with each of you." Anthony grinned and walked over.

"Chief, you've been like a big sister to me since Eden Prime. This is more than a team, it's a family." John nodded, looking to everyone.

"Anthony's right. We've all been through a lot. Watch each other's backs and keep yourselves sharp. Fight like I know you all can, and we'll add this to the party at the Citadel when this is all over." With a nod from each of them, Shepard pulled his own helmet on, the rest of the team following suit. Walking over, they saw nearly two dozen salarians all standing at parade rest. Kirrahe had just started speaking, and nobody looked to interrupt him anytime soon.

"-murs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage. We would be _legends_, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way." He began to pace in front of the ranks. "Think of _our_ legends. Of the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was _the fleet_. Before diplomacy, there were _soldiers_! Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that...we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, _we held the line_! Our influence _will_ stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"

Kirrahe turned from his troops, who each had stood straighter as the captain spoke. Facing John and his team, he walked up, offering a hand, which Shepard shook firmly. "Good luck, Commander. See you again when this base is a crater." Shepard nodded, and then turned to the team.

"Alright. Tali, Snyder, Wrex. You're with me. Kaiden, with the demolitions team. Liara, give them a hand. Keep Joker focused, we're going to have to get out of here in one hell of a hurry. Ash, we'll see you on the other side. Any questions?" When none came, John pulled his assault rifle from it's storage spot. "Alright, then. Move out!"

A/N: I always liked that speech. Also, I know I didn't have Anthony in the Mako for the first half of the mission, but he can't go EVERY time, now can he? Anyone else play through the game the first time with the same two people on every mission? Anyway, this is it! Virmire! As promised, the next chapter is completely up to you, my readers. You only have a few hours left to let your voice be heard. At 4:00AM GMT, my poll will close and the final half of Virmire gets written. Also, is there a movie quote in here? Maybe, maybe not. Nobody spotted one in the last chapter...but did I put one in? I know, I'm evil. And no, I won't post at the beginning of the chapter who's going to bite the big one. As always, enjoy and review, and I'll see you all again for the next chapter! You can wear black when reading if you want. Because...someone is going...to die!


	14. Last One Out, Get The Lights

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XIV

Last One Out, Get The Lights

The approach to the research base was quiet on the other side of the perimeter wall the salarians had put up, the sound of water slowly flowing over rocks and through small cracks in the walls of the maze of valleys made for a setting that was more serene than anything. Wrex, Tali, and John all had their assualt rifles out, while Anthony kept his senses tuned, sniper rifle in his hands as the four moved as cautiously as they could through the water. Still on edge for the slightest bit of unnatural movement, he spoke quietly. "You know, it's a real shame. This planet is absolutely beautiful...pity we're about to blow a crater in the side of it." John and Tali nodded their agreement, whereas Wrex simply grunted.

"Maybe nice to look at...but anyone that came from this place would be too soft. Everything you need is right here. Only predators we've seen are the damn geth." Anthony shrugged a little, stopping for a moment to peer through his scope, lowering the weapon again when his scan turned up empty.

"Maybe, Wrex, but look at these cliffs. Imagine a whole shitload of fighters lining the top, firing down on you. They'd have cover, better position, and be able to set up crossfire easily." The group slowed a little as the sound of geth drones overhead echoed a little across the rock walls, making it hard to pin down where they were. "Or some kind of huge flying creatures buzzing through the valleys with angry assholes firing down on you." Wrex just grunted again, in a little thought, Shepard's voice breaking Anthony out of his little scenarios.

"Snyder, as of right now, you're cut off from sci-fi vids for a week. You're starting to creep the rest of us out." Anthony chuckled and lifted his rifle again. Suddenly crouching on the soft sand below him, the three others held their movements. A pair of quick sharp cracks later, and two recon drones nearly exploded as they fell to the water below. Anthony smiled as he stood, turning back to face John.

"Sorry, sir, but that won't help. I was a sci-fi nut back in my time. The vids here are good, but what I watched growing up is in a whole other league." Shepard sighed and shook his head, smiling a bit as his medic held his rifle up against his shoulder.

"Fine, old man, just keep that ancient history to yourself for now. I'm jumpy enough as it is." Anthony grinned and snapped off a salute. John shook his head once again, lifting his rifle back into a ready position as the group continued onwards.

After about twenty minutes of walking, Shepard rounded a corner, only to duck back behind it once again, holding out his arm for eveyone to stay clear. "Contact. Some kind of structure. Snyder, take a peek, but hold your fire." Anthony nodded and moved over to the corner, laying prone and inching his way forward, just enough to peek his rifle around and look through the scope.

"Not exactly sure...but it looks like a transmitter antenna on top. Might be a comm station. Five geth. One of em's got a rocket launcher, though." Shepard nodded and pulled a grenade from his belt, looking over to Tali and Wrex. Both nodded at the unspoken question, Tali hefting her assault rifle, Wrex putting his away in favor of his shotgun. John looked over to Anthony again.

"Anything over there look particularly explosive?" He peeked around the corner again as Anthony scanned the building through his scope.

"Let's see...oh, yeah. Top level, right behind that console. Looks like some of those ion energy containment things. And they're close enough that if you hit it, it'll take out the transmitter, too." John smiled and nodded.

"Alright, then, people. Let's make some noise."

* * *

><p>After wiping out the comm station, as well as blowing up a refueling depot for the drones, the wall of the research facility was finally in front of them. There were very few guards left, which John and Anthony made quick work of with sniper shots. Entering the facility, the first catwalk was empty, aside from a single console. Booting it up, and a quick hack from Tali later, the base's security was disabled.<p>

Moving inside, there were surprisingly few guards in the first areas, one of which was a catwalk over what appeared to be holding cells containing several salarians. The very next room, however, was a buzz of activity. Not just with geth, but stasis chambers containing krogan, and several holding the same zombie-creatures from Eden Prime. Shepard waved everyone off as he ducked behind the doorframe, making sure not to alert anyone. "Shit! Okay, this is a problem. About thirty of them in there. Anyone got any bright ideas?" Wrex looked over and nodded.

"Yeah, I got some stuff. Picked some things out of that care package your mom sent over." Wrex pulled open a small compartment on his armor, pulling out five ammo mod packages. Handing them out to Shepard, he grinned at John's wide-eyed look.

"You just happen to carry these things around, then?" At Wrex's grin, he simply shook his head. "Fuck, I'm not arguing against a heavily-armed gift horse. Tali, can you get these in our guns out here?" At the young quarian's nod, John handed the mods over, Anthony looking up.

"What are they, though?" John smiled.

"High explosive rounds." Anthony shook his head, sighing, handing over his assault rifle as well. Tali made quick work of putting the mods in, handing the weapons back as she went. The one left she tucked into a pocket somewhere on her suit.

"I did what I could without a proper workbench. They'll work, but our weapons will overheat a lot faster. I don't have the tools to tie in the heat-sinks properly." Tali hefted her own rifle, steadying herself. "I also adjusted the dampeners as much as I could without completely recalibrating th-" John looked over, raising a hand.

"Tali, I don't mean to interrupt, but we need to move, ok?" Tali nodded softly, the chest of her suit expanding slightly as she took a deep breath to steady herself. "Alright. Everyone keep short bursts, then. We shouldn't need more than that anyway. You spot anything that even looks like it might explode and take out more of them, you shoot it first." Nods answered him as the four set their sights. "Okay...move!"

Bursting into the lab, each person simply picked a target and gave the trigger a shot squeeze. The effect of the ammo mod was well-seen, each round exploding like a small bomb on impact, pressuring shields on the geth, ripping apart the controls to the chambers, sinking small craters into the wall behind targets for the few that went wide, and generally causing alarm and meyhem.

Wrex gave a mighty roar as he kept up his fire a little longer than the rest of the team, aiming specifically for the krogan in stasis, as if they were an insult to his honor. As he fired, the barrel of his rifle glowed an angry red, protesting the extra heat of the hastily added mods.

Tali's aim was more controlled, aiming for a small group of plasma energy cells near the zombie-creature chambers. When finally one round breached the containment, the unit exploded with a bright white light as the plasma within expanded outward. The heat of several thousand degrees made simple work of the chamber it was next to, starting a chain reaction with the rest of the cells, the force destroying the chambers, incinerating the zombies, and blowing a hole in the wall, showing this part of the facility to be over a cliff, overlooking the sea beyond.

One of the scientists dove for a control panel in the middle of the room, just barely being able to hit a button before being literally blown back from a handful of rounds from both Anthony and John. Two of the remaining chambers with krogan deactivated, the beasts within stumbling forward. One barely opened it's eyes before three sets of explosive rounds impacted it's head, killing it almost instantly.

Wrex's gun finally gave in to the intense heat, refusing to fire as he pulled the trigger. With another roar of frustration, he threw the weapon aside, charging the remaining krogan. Still disoriented from being so quickly brought out of stasis, the other krogan had little chance as Wrex tackled him from the side, pinning him to the floor. With something that sounded more like a wild beast's battle cry, Wrex brought the plate covering his forehead slamming down onto the face of the other krogan. Not ready for it, there was little resistance as a sickening crunch echoed through the lab, and and the other krogan suddenly went still.

Kicking aside a geth form laying on the floor, the rest of the team walked over toward Wrex, who was still pinning the other krogan to the floor, breathing heavily from the battle rush. John stepped the closest, looking down. "Wrex? I think he's dead..." Wrex turned to look at John for a moment before slowly breaking into a deep laugh. Standing, he turned towards everyone, the deep red blood of the krogan still on his head, the krogan's face nearly caved in from the force.

"Of course he is...too bad...just a whelp. Not much older than our asari friend...doubt he would have even able to take the Rite on the homeworld." Wrex just walked over towards where he had tossed his gun, not even bothering to wipe the blood off his face as he picked up the still-smoking weapon. Seeing the barrel was bent slightly from the heat, he simply threw it aside, reaching out and picking up one of the rifles from a fallen geth. "Where to next?"

The others were near speechless for a few seconds, before Shepard pointed towards an elevator at the far end of the lab. Wrex nodded and walked towards it, the others falling into step behind him. Anthony looked up towards the bloody krogan as they walked. "Wrex...?" He looked back at the human, a slight sneer on his face. Anthony nodded towards his forehead. "You've got red on you. That's a nice gun. Wouldn't want to get it dirty, yeah?" Wrex simply chuckled and reached up, wiping his head off.

"You've got a point, Human."

* * *

><p>Shepard waved in the <em>Normandy<em> as Joker flew the ship into the small area Kirahee had marked for the bomb. The ship gently set down, thrusters still screaming to keep the ship level and ready to move off. As the cargo ramp opened and lowered into the small pool of water that was flowing back towards some kind of power plant cooling tower, John gave a wave to Kaiden as he walked down the ramp.

Behind him, five crewmen gently lifted and carried a large metal object, surrounded by a light biotic field from Liara. Even with her helping, it was obvious that this bomb was no light package. Three marines follwed, in full armor to guard the bomb. Once it was set in position, Liara and the crew beat a hasty retreat to the ship.

The_ Normandy_ lifted off the ground even before the ramp was finished closing again, dodging a few rockets from some geth that were still somewhere on the outside of the base. Kaiden nodded to Shepard as he walked up, noting the slightly drained color from his face. "You alright, Commander?" John sighed and walked with Alenko over to the bomb.

"I'll tell you when I figure it out. Found another beacon and I got another migraine. Oh, and by the way, Saren's ship? It's not a ship. Soverign is a Reaper." Kaiden just stopped a few paces from the bomb, staring at John disbelieveingly.

"Please tell me you're just telling some sick joke." Shepard just sighed and continued to the bomb. Anthony walked over to Kaiden, patting him on the back.

"Yeah...we all had a nice little conversation with our 'salvation through destruction'. Nice guy, if you don't count the whole _'I want to wipe out all sentient life in the galaxy'_ thing. Apparently, they made the Citadel, the Relays...all of it." Kaiden just stood there, trying to absorb the information before Shepard called out.

"Alenko! Get over here and get this bomb ready!" Kaiden ran over, shaking himself out of his shock, and pulled out his omni-tool, starting to link it to the bomb and begin the arming. Shepard looked around again, sighing. "I'm tired of this fucking place. I want it gone." Kaiden nodded.

"Aye, sir. It'll be vapor before you know it. About twenty minutes to charge the core enough, and I can set as long a timer you want after." Shepard nodded, then looked around to the rest of the team.

"Alright. Let's go pick up Ashley at the AA tower, and we'll get the hell out of here." Wrex, Anthony, and Tali formed up on Shepard, following him out of the small open area. There was still some light resistance as they made their way through the base toward the tower, but it was easily taken out. A short elevator ride later, and the team came to a second area, headed toward the tower. Then, the radio crackled to life.

_*Williams to Shepard! Commander, come in!* _Shepard raised his hand to his ear. "I'm here, Ashley. What's going on?" Ash's voice came over the radio again. _*I don't know what they did, but they got the AA gun back up and running again. Kirrahe's injured, we're losing fighters fast!* _A high-pitched whine pierced the air as a geth dropship came into view, heading back towards the bomb site. Shepard gripped the railing of the catwalk he was on. "Kaiden, you've got a dropship coming in!"

_*They're already here, Commander. There's too many of them! We're not going to hold this position for long.* _There was a long, pregnant pause, before Alenko's voice came across the radio again. _*I'm activating the bomb! I'm putting it into anoverload. That should get it going. Commander, you've got fifteen minutes. Get that gun down and get Williams the hell out of here!*_ John looked around at the shocked faces of the team with him. Ash spoke up again, arguing the point.

_*No, LT. You're the higher officer here. Commander, I'll figure some way to get the guns down. Go back and get him. I'm not letting this go down like this!* _Shepard looked up to Anthony. "We split up. Take Tali and get back to Alenko, hold that position. Me and Wrex wi-" Kaiden once again broke into the conversation.

_*Commander, don't. You need everyone to get those guns down. Come back for me and we all die. Just go, dammit!*_ Shepard closed his eyes, bending down and resting his head on the guardrail. A few moments passed before John spoke again. "Ashley...hold your position. We're coming for you. Kaiden..." Shepard straightened up, pulling his shotgun from it's storage spot. "...I'm sorry." Alenko's voice came back once more, a slight chuckle to it. _*It's alright, Commander. I don't regret anything. It's been an honor serving with you, sir. Just do me a favor?*_

Shepard nodded to the rest of the team, starting at a run towards the AA tower. "Just name it."

_*Kick Saren's ass for me.*_

* * *

><p>Arriving at the AA tower, the four saw Ashley huddled behind a few crates, a wave of geth advancing on her. A few salarian bodies were scattered around the area, some still breathing. One was near Ash, still trying to fire with a pistol blindly around the crate. Charging the geth, all four opened fire, the explosive rounds from Anthony and Tali joining with the pulse rifle appropriated by Wrex and the near point-blank shotgun blasts from Shepard. Shields flared as the geth returned fire, but the onslaught of heavy weaponry proved too much for them. A minute after they entered the area, the only things still moving were friendly.<p>

Shepard took a grenade and threw it up at the base of the AA gun, letting it stick to one of the main movement joints. Turning back to the team, he pointed up. "Tali, Snyder! You've still got explosive ammo on. Hit that mark and shut this fucker down!"

Tali and Anthony looked at each other and nodded, taking aim at the small light blinking on the top of the grenade. Anthony looked over out of the corner of his eye. "Alright, ready? On my mark. Three...two...one...fire!" Stuttering roars came from each of their weapons as they both held the triggers down, much like Wrex had done before. Small fireballs erupted around the grenade, which caught one and joined in the show.

The entire gun rocked from the blast, which must have done some internal damage to the weapon, since it gave one more shot from it's barrel before falling silent, smoke slowly starting to rise. Anthony called over to John, who was checking on Ashley an Kirrahe. "Commander, we're clear!"

Shepard nodded and called back over. "Good! Secure an LZ and radio for pickup!" Anthony nodded and pulled up his radio, watching as Shepard sprayed some medi-gel onto Ash's leg, the white armor tinted a deep red.

"Ground team to _Normandy_, Joker, where are you?" Joker's voice came across the radio a moment later. _*Holding position five k from the base. I can be there in six minutes. What's your location?*_ Anthony turned to face the edge of the platform they were on, pulling up his omni-tool. "At the AA gun by the breeding facility. I'm sending you a nav marker. We're going to have to haul ass out of here, Joker. Snyder out."

Turning back to Shepard, Anthony didn't hear the whine behind him, or see the blue bolt of biotics before it was too late. Impacting his back, he was thrown across the area, skidding to a halt nearly twenty feet away. Shaking his head to clear it, he saw another turian, Saren, walking towards Shepard, who was firing his pistol at him. Each shot fell short against a blue barrier around Saren, until John stopped firing.

Still dizzy from the unexpected flying lesson, he couldn't make out what Shepard and Saren were saying to each other. Tali came over to him from the side, helping him to his feet. He nodded softly to her, staring down at the subject of their manhunt. "Tali...can you do an even quicker switch onto my sniper rifle with that last mod Wrex gave you?" Tali looked up and nodded.

"Yes...but I doubt it will give you more than one shot." Anthony pulled the weapon from his back and quickly handed it to her as she pulled the final mod from her suit. Anthony looked around, seeing Wrex struggling to his feet as well, a similar blast to what must have hit him had taken down the krogan battlemaster as well.

"I think that's all we're going to have time for. Otherwise, we're all toast." She nodded and quickly stripped the weapon down, hurriedly installing the explosive ammunition into the rifle. Shepard had apparently gotten tired of whatever Saren was saying, and threw a grenade at the turian. The shield once again held against the blast for a moment, but it blinded Saren to John's charge. Breaking through the cloud from the explosion, Shepard started taking on the turian hand-to hand.

Anthony's eyes went wide as Saren suddenly gained the upper hand, bringing Shepard up in a choke hold. Turning, he simply held his hand out to Tali for the weapon, some of the pieces still laying on the floor. "Time's up! Go help Wrex up and get ready to move him, Joker should be here any second!" Tali nodded and started once again along the side of the area. Anthony laid down on the ground, spotting through the scope. Peeking at his omni-tool again, he waited as he saw the _Normandy _was almost there. As the frigate came into view over the platform, Saren's gaze was drawn upward. Anthony made his move, squeezing the trigger.

A loud crack erupted from the barrel of the weapon, as well as out a small side port, a small blast of flame coming from both holes. Saren's shields, however, flared brightly as the small fireball erupted on his back, knocking him forward and off balance. This was just enough for John to get his footing, rearing back and delivering a solid punch to the turian's head, actually knocking him off the platform.

Anthony ran over to Ashley as he saw Tali and Wrex standing, heading to Shepard. "Chief! Come on, let's get this guy out of here. You good to move?" At her nod, each took an arm of the salarian captain over their shoulders. Williams was walking with a clear limp, but they were able to make it toward the rest of the group as the cargo ramp lowered to the edge.

A high-pitched whine filled the air again as Saren once again appeared on his hovering platform. He paused for only a moment before taking off away from the building at high speed. Climbing into the cargo bay, and nearly collapsing on the deck, each looked around, taking a breath for just a moment, then Shepard and Anthony's eyes going wide. Shepard keyed up his connection to the ship's comm. "Joker, get us to black! NOW!"

The two humans stood and ran to the elevator as it opened, revealing Dr. Chakwas and a few crewmen to the cargo bay. The ship lurched to the side as it slowly lifted in the air, the bay doors slowly closing, eventually shutting out the wind. As the elevator rose to the crew deck, Shepard looked down at his omni-tool, the countdown on it quickly running out. As soon as the elevator door opened again, the two sprinted up the stairs and into the CIC, running past the galaxy map and down the corridor into the bridge.

Joker's fingers were flying across controls, pushing as much power into the engines as he could. John pulled off his helmet, letting it drop to the floor. "Joker, tell me we're going to clear the blast." Joker didn't answer for a moment, concentrating on flying, a similar countdown clock on his own displays. Ten seconds...five...four...Joker hit another control, the collision alarm sounding throughout the ship.

"It's going to be close! Everyone hang on to something!"

A bright flash lit the back of the viewports on the bridge, followed a few seconds later by a violent shake across the entire deck. A pit opened in Anthony's gut as he realized what that had ment. Reaching over to the controls for the second seat, he pulled up the ship's external sensors. An image of the planet behind them filled the screen, a fireball on one of the larger islands marking the spot they had just been...and where Kaiden had been. Shepard looked at the screen for a moment before turning away, his voice quiet and somber. "Turn it off...briefing room once everyone's cleared..." John walked off the bridge, leaving his helmet on the side. Anthony sighed quietly as well, slowly standing.

"I'm...going to go and get out of this armor...see you in a bit, Joker..." The normally talkative pilot just nodded, returning his attention to the ship's controls.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the rest of the team sat in the briefing room, nobody really looking towards the vacant chair. Ashley had been seen to by Chakwas, who had also cleared Anthony and Wrex. Finally, Ash broke the silence.<p>

"I can't believe Kaiden didn't make it. How...how could we just leave him down there?" Her voice cracked as she looked down dowards the deck, fighting her emotions. John's voice quietly answered.

"Kaiden knew the risks going in. He gave his life so the rest of us could make it out." Ashley looked over to John, almost anger on her face.

"He didn't deserve it. It...it should have been me." John shook his head, his voice taking on a quiet, caring tone.

"Ash...as much as it isn't fair...it was my choice. I chose you. I don't know if you want to be a martyr because of your grandfather...but I'm not losing you. That's an order, Chief." Ash's features softened a moment and she nodded, closing her eyes before answering.

"Aye-aye, skipper..."

There was another pause before Liara slowly spoke up. "Commander...I don't mean to interrupt...but...Anthony said you found another beacon?" Shepard nodded softly.

"Yeah. And this one didn't blow up on me...why?" Liara slowly stood, taking a few steps further.

"If I can look again for the visions...I believe they might be complete, now." Shepard sighed quietly, then slowly nodded, standing as well.

"It's worth a shot, I suppose. Do it." Liara nodded and stepped closer to Shepard again, and after a moment, her eyes once again turned black, John staggering slightly at the meld. After a few moments, the two nearly collapsed, Ashley coming forward to steady John, and Anthony catching Liara as she fell back. Her voice was shaky, but firm.

"I...Ilos! The Conduit! It's on Ilos! That's why Saren needed the Mu relay!" John nodded as he steadied himself, Anthony helping Liara back to her feet as well. She stood steady for a moment before staggering again, Anthony helping her back to her seat. Looking over, he looked up to Shepard.

"Sir...if Ilos is where we need to go, Saren knows we've gotten this far. He'll have his fleet waiting. We're going to need a hell of a lot of backup." Shepard nodded and looked up to the ceiling.

"Joker? You there, too?" Joker's voice came across the intercom. Even the normally excitable pilot sounded more subdued. _*Yeah, Commander. I'm here. We're...coming up on a comm bouy. I guess you want me to patch you in to the Council?" _Shepard sighed and walked over to the holo comm. "Put them through, Joker. They need to know. Anthony...take Liara back down to Chakwas. Have her make sure she's ok, and give her a link to the nav system to point out Ilos." Anthony nodded as the holograms of the Council came up, giving Liara a steadying hand as he led her to the medbay.

Once there, the two sat on one of the beds as Dr. Chakwas ran a few scans of Liara. Neither said anything, the day's events still weighing heavily on their minds. When she was cleared, the two went into the store room to find Liara's notes on Ilos. After entering them into his omni-tool and forwarding them to Shepard and Pressly, he shut down his tool and leaned over on the desk next to Liara. "You alright?" The asari sighed and shook her head softly.

"Not really. I didn't expect for us to lose someone else on this mission...even though I suppose I should have." She slowly stood, taking a few steps away from the desk. Anthony sighed and nodded.

"I guess it's a bit different for a researcher. This is military. This is war. You lose people. I thought I had finished that when I was in that hospital. That I'd never have to watch a friend die again. But it's never been something that won't happen to me." Liara sighed quietly and nodded. Suddenly, she turned, walking close to Anthony, her lips meeting his. Surprised for a few seconds, he slowly returned the kiss, hands coming up to rest on her shoulders.

After a minute, Liara pulled back, a deep blue tint to her cheeks. "I...I'm sorry...I don't know whar came over me. I've...never done something like that before..." Anthony just chuckled and shook his head.

"Don't be. For a beginner, it was perfect." As she pulled away slightly, he sighed. "Just...caught up in the moment, ok? Kiss between friends?" Liara looked over to him for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Alright. I suppose this makes things...a little more complicated between us?" Anthony shook his head.

"No, it doesn't have to. Liara...honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that either. What do you say...we just play it by ear?" At her confused look, he chuckled again. "It's a human saying. It means we just take it a day at a time...see how things go?" As she nodded softly, the intercom came on, Shepard's voice coming through the ship.

_*All hands, this is Shepard. We're going back to the Citadel. The Council is organizing a fleet to take Ilos. I want the _Normandy_ at the head of that fleet. ETA to the Citadel is five hours. Get your gear secured and any personal messages you want to send ready. It's time to take this fight to Saren.* _

Anthony and Liara sighed as the speaker clicked off, giving each other a small nod. Each moved to their own bunks, wanting to prepare themselves for the upcoming fight.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the late update, everyone. This chapter was just tough to write. It went through about 4 changes before coming up with what you see here, and it still doesn't feel completely right. But I had to get something out for everyone, so here it is. I may not exactly be happy about it, but I'm satisfied. The final votes for the poll are as follows: Kaiden – 19(38%), Mystery Choice(which I'll answer somewhere else) – 14(28%), Ashley – 10(20%), Garrus/Tali – 2(4%), Wrex/Liara – 1(2%), with a total of 28 people voting.

Anyway, happier note, Whoo! Finally some hawt alien action for our time-traveler! :) Ehhh...not really, I guess. No, I don't think this is going any further, but in the break between writing 1 and 2, I might go and write up a separate scene for this and post it on my site. I'll let you all know if I do. Also, if you ever wanted to talk directly to our favorite field medic, now you get the chance. On Facebook! Mr. Snyder has broken out of my imagination and joined the social networking group again after a 100+ year absence. Just search for Anthony Snyder and it'll pull him up.

Anyway, please review, everyone! I hope you enjoyed, and thank you for sticking with me this far. See you next time!


	15. Priority Shift

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XV

Priority Shift

A small jolt once again accompanied the magnetic clamps securing the _Normandy_ in her berth on the Citadel. The crew began going about the list of maintenance that had been put together by Tali and Chief Engineer Adams. Requisition orders were transmitted to the Citadel dockworkers and the C-Sec armory, stamped with a Spectre ID, for the materials needed to get the ship up to full fighting strength. As the disembarkation bridge connected with the hull, the airlock hissed open, the ground team already moving towards the dock. John, Ashley, and Anthony were all in Alliance dress blues, the rest of the team dressed in the best they had on them. For Garrus, Wrex and Tali, this was little more than their normal armor. Liara had, however, a more formal version of the work clothes she wore on digs, reflecting her official tile as a doctor of xeno-archeology. The team made a very imposing sight as the elevator arrived. Anderson stepped out onto the dock as the group approached him, the three humans standing at attention, saluting in form. Anderson returned it sharply.

"Commander, Chief, Sargent, welcome back to the Citadel. Udina has arranged a meeting with the Council regarding the report you sent. Once you arrived, they set it in an hour. You and your team have until that time to get whatever personal supplies you think you'll need." John nodded to Anderson and gave a small look to the rest of the team. Almost as one, the group walked into the elevator, Anderson falling into step with Shepard.

"Thanks, Captain. I guess the reports from Virmire finally showed the Council how much of a threat Saren is?" Anderson nodded as the elevator door slid closed, starting the slow descent to the C-Sec academy.

"It would seem so, Shepard. And...I know this may be a bit of a sore subject at the moment, but Alenko..." Shepard shook his head and simply raised a hand. Anderson stopped mid-sentence.

"Captain, we all appreciate the thought. Finishing this is going to be our own tribute to Kaiden." Anderson nodded, and everyone was a little surprised when Wrex spoke up next.

"For a human...Alenko was all right. We lost a good fighter. But he died well. Better than most can ask for." Wrex fell silent after this, the entire elevator joining the silent moment. Once the elevator opened into the academy, though, the noise from outside seemed to shatter it, bringing the group back to the present. As Anderson and Shepard walked out, everyone else moved out as well. Anderson turned back to the group.

"I just want to say...you're all damned heroes in my book. I don't think there's any other team I would feel safer with on this mission. Commander, I need to get a few things ready for your meeting. I'll see you all again in the Council chambers." With another set of salutes by the humans, Anderson walked off towards the elevators to the Presidium. Shepard turned and faced the rest of the team.

"Alright, you heard the man. Meeting's in an hour. 50 minutes, I want everyone at the base of the tower. Until then, your time is your own. Dismissed." With that, the group began to slowly scatter. Anthony, Garrus, and Tali wound up heading off in the same direction, towards the C-Sec armory. On entering the small room filled with weapons crates, the requisitions officer looked up, recognizing the three as part of the human Spectre's team.

"Sergeant Snyder, Officer Vakarian...Miss Zorah. Welcome. Agent Shepard sent a message before docking that some of his team might come my way. As part of his authorized list, the same special stocks are open to you, as well. Browse at your liesure." Anthony and Garrus just looked at each other for a moment, shaking their heads. As Garrus moved over towards the armor cases, Anthony looked back to Tali, who was fidgeting a little uncomfortably.

"Tali, you alright?" At her name, the quarian actually jumped a little, before looking up to him.

"Oh...yes, I'm fine." Trying to deflect the question, she reached out and picked up an omni-tool package, looking it over. "I was just thinking about getting this one, is all." Anthony looked over at the package she held. Remembering how quickly she hacked the security terminal at the research base, he doubted what looked to be a beginners level omni-tool was better than what she was using. At his disbelieving look, Tali placed the box back, caving to the unasked question.

"Remember...when you asked me about my people? How I said we were usually looked down on, as scavengers and thieves?" At his nod, she continued. "The way that turian over there said my name. I can feel him watching me out of the corner of my eye. Quarians aren't exactly welcomed on many worlds. There's still a bit of resentment here against us." Anthony nodded softly.

"You want to go, then?" At Tali's nervous stuttering, looking around at the items, and at Garrus, who was now browsing the sniper rifles, Anthony gave her a bit of a smile. "Hey. Whatever I've already been using is enough for me. And Garrus is a big boy, he can find his way. Any place a friend of mine isn't welcome is a place that won't get _my_ business." Starting for the door, he looked back at her. "You coming?" Tali fidgeted for a moment more before nodding, walking over to Anthony, matching his step as the two went back up the stairs toward the academy.

"Thank you, Anthony." Tali still sounded a little nervous, not used to someone caring that much about her feelings. "You didn't have to do that. I know you wanted to look a bit more." Anthony just shook his head as they walked, making their way towards the elevator up to the Presidium.

"I may not look it, Tali, but I didn't have many friends growing up. The few I did, I kept close to, right up until my 'trip'. Everyone on this crew I count as a friend, now...hell, even Wrex." He turned his head a little as they arrived at the elevator, locking eyes with her through her visor. "I stick by my friends." Tali nodded a little and looked away, and Anthony was now sure she was blushing. Grinning a bit, the two stepped into the elevator, and off to the Presidium. "Come on, then. I'll buy you a toast to the mission at the embassy lounge."

* * *

><p>"Patrols have been dispatched to every mass relay linking Citadel Space to the Terminus Systems. Saren won't be able to get through that." Shepard looked incredulously to Councilor Velarn. Behind him, Anthony and Ashley both stood at parade rest on either side, the rest of the team standing just off the speaking platform, since this was more a human report than theirs.<p>

"You actually think a blockade is going to stop him? He's on his way to Ilos, if he isn't there already, looking for the Conduit! What about that?" The salarian councilor just shook his head at John.

"Ilos is only accessible though the Mu Relay, which is deep inside the Terminus. We send the fleet in there, and it could break out into full scale war." Udina looked over to Shepard.

"Commander, this is a time for a bit more discretion than setting off a nuclear bomb. Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Exposed, he's no longer a threat." Shepard nearly growled at Udina, staring down the older man.

"Sovereign is his weapon, not secrecy! If you want to think this threat is over, then go ahead. But you gave me authority to do what I felt was necessary. I'm exorcizing it." Councellor Valern looked down at the group of humans in front of him.

"Ambassador Udina, I get the sense Commander Shepard isn't going to just let this go." Udina turned back to face John and his team fully, now.

"There are some serious pollitical implications here, Shepard. Humanity's made great gains thanks to you. But now...you're becoming more trouble than you're worth." Ashley and Anthony both clenched fists, Ash taking a step forward.

"You bastard! You're selling us out!" Udina Ignored the outburst, taking a few steps closer to the edge of the platform, to be more in the focus of the Council.

"It's just politics, Commander. You've done your job, and you've done it well. Now let me do my job. Until further notice, the _Normandy_ is grounded. All of her primary systems have been locked out." This time, Anthony stepped forward.

"You're a slimeball, Udina. You stab us in the back to make yourself look good? I thought politics like that died out centuries ago." Udina turned and came face to face with Anthony, his voice low so it wouldn't be heard.

"Keep talking, Snyder. Maybe I should mention to the Council that we have a time-traveler on our team? You'll be in a lab back on Noveria within a day. No way to tell if you'll come out again, though. You'll wish whatever mistake brought you here had killed you on the way." Before Anthony could respond or do anything, Udina quickly moved away, letting the watchful gaze of the Council keep anything from happening to him in public. "For that, Mr. Snyder, I'm adding your confinement to the _Normandy._ Commander, I think it's time for you and your team to leave. This matter no longer concerns you. The Council can handle this from here...with my help, of course."

Anthony clenched his fists tightly, trying to keep himself from ripping the smug politician's head off right then and there. Shepard turned and saw the look Anthony was giving Udina. It reminded him of the look he had, himself, given Administrator Anoleis back on Noveria...just much more intense. Laying a hand on his medic's shoulder, he nodded, turning him away from his target and slowly walking him down off the platform. John was a little surprised at the feeling of someone else helping, looking to the other side of Anthony to see Tali mirroring his motions. Nodding in thanks to the young quarian, the team walked down and away from the Council chambers, ignoring the voices that followed them. Anthony was still fuming.

"Shepard, it's a good thing you told us dress blues. If I had my sidearm on me, that fucker would have a new hole to breathe out of." Shepard gave a sharp squeeze to Anthony's shoulder, his voice stern.

"Stand down, Sergeant...He'll get his soon enough. For right now, let's get out of here before I go with you back there and commit murder in front of the Council. Won't look good for my Spectre status, yeah?" Anthony just nodded softly, taking a few steps a little faster than the rest of the group, wanting to get to the elevator a little faster. The elevator arrived at their level and Anthony was the first one in, leaning back against the side wall and closing his eyes. At Shepard's soft shake of the head, everyone just gave him a little space. The door slid closed, and the elevator made the slow trip down to the Presidium.

* * *

><p>Back on the <em>Normandy<em>_, _both Anthony and John fought to keep from attempting to punch a hole in the hull. Joker had been damn near pouty in his chair as they returned, the red glow from locked out controls in front of him there as if taunting all who looked into the cockpit. Shepard had pulled away from everyone, heading into his quarters and locking the door. Anthony did the same, stalking into the med bay store room, pulling off his dress uniform jacket and hurling it through the small doorway onto his bunk. Not bothering to lock the door, he sat on the edge of his bed, resting his arms on his knees, looking up at the picture of him and his family on the wall. He wasn't sure how long he was sitting there before someone knocked on the metal wall beside hin. Looking up, he saw both Liara and Tali looking in. Neither said anything, but the look on Liara's face, which he could imagine mirrored behind Tali' visor, spoke as to why they were there. He sighed, looking back down to the deck.

"It's shit like this that reminds me why I hate politicians. I didn't come here on purpose. Shit, I don't even know how I got here. But I know I'm here to stay." Tali slowly came over, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

"There's still a chance you could find a way back to your own time, though. I mean, if that rift brought you here, if we find another, maybe it can bring you back?" Anthony sighed and shook his head.

"No...I went and looked at my file. It says that I disappeared. Nothing about me coming back. If I made it back, it would be a part of history. But there's nothing. So either I never make it back or I die trying." He looked up to Tali and smiled softly, nodding, then shifting his gaze to Liara. "I don't intend to die and raise the odds of this galactic extinction, so...that means I stay." Slowly, he stood, looking back to the picture for a moment. "Liara...when we played Tali's recovered audio file, Councillor Tevos recognized your mother's voice. Do you know if they knew each other well?" Liara thought for a few moments, then slowly nodded.

"Quite well, I believe. I remember a few times I had met her and the rest of the Council when I was younger." Anthony nodded and smiled.

"Good, because that'll help. If this can work, it's going to have to work fast. Tali, Udina said the ship's systems are locked. Can you break through that so we can get a message to the _Sanctuary_?" Tali looked away, reaching up and rubbing her arm slightly.

"I'm not sure. I've never tried to break through a Council lockout before." Anthony nodded.

"It's ok. Now, does anyone know where John is?"

* * *

><p>The beat went straight through John, Ashley, and Anthony as they stepped into Flux down in the wards. Looking around from the door, John was just able to spot Anderson at a table in the back corner by the bar. Tilting his head forward, the three humans had to weave their way over, between dancing couples and people stumbling around slightly. When Anderson noticed the three, he waved them over. As they sat, he looked over to Anthony. "I'm surprised you made it here, Snyder. There should have been guards at the airlock to keep you on the <em>Normandy<em>." Anthony just smiled and pointed to Shepard, who grinned.

"Come on, Captain. Even being confined to a ship isn't going to stop someone that's just gotten a message that his appointment with the Consort is in an hour. I mean, he's been on the waiting list for almost a year. Plus, with a Spectre escorting him, I'm here to make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Anderson just shook his head.

"Shepard, you spin a line of bullshit so good, I'm surprised **you're** not the politician." Anderson sighed, looking back at his former XO. "I'm sorry about what happened. I wanted to warn you, but there was no way to get a message out without tipping off Udina or the Council. But this isn't over. You have to get to Ilos, and stop Saren from using the Conduit." Shepard shook his head.

"Captain, there's only one ship that can get me through the Terminus Systems safely, and she's been grounded." Anderson nodded.

"Yes, but there's a way around that. Citadel Control is who's locking out the _Normandy's_ systems, under the ambassador's orders. We override those orders, we can cancel the lock-out and get the ship back online. You can be in the Terminus before anyone knows you're even gone." The three crewmates looked at each other a little confused, before looking back to Anderson, Ashley speaking up.

"But Captain, how do we override the lock-out?" Andterson sighed, looking down at the table.

"I can unlock the _Normandy_ from one of the consoles in the Citadel Control offices. It'll take a few minutes before someone realizes what's going on. That'll give you enough of a window to get out of dock and to the relay." Ashley looked over to Anderson.

"Captain, that's a restricted area, with armed guards. Shepard might be able to get in unquestioned, but you won't." Anderson straightened a bit in his chair.

"Leave that to me. Just make sure you're in the _Normandy_ when the systems come back online." Shepard shook his head.

"Sir, isn't there another way? Not to say I doubt your ability, but I still don't like the odds." Anderson thought for a few moments, then nodded.

"Well, the lock-out order came from Udina. If I go to his office, I can cancel it directly from his console." Anthony looked up at the mention of Udina.

"What if the asshole's there, sir?" Anderson just shook his head.

"I'll think of something. Those are the only ways." Shepard shook his head.

"Actually, sir, Snyder had a good idea. If we can get a message through to the Sanctuary, maybe getting Matriarch Benezia and Councillor Tevos in the same room might let the Council see just how much of a threat Soverign is." Anderson shook his head.

"There's no way to do it, Shepard. All of your comm signatures have been blocked getting off the station. Even mine is restricted. Udina knew I'd want to help." Anderson sighed quietly. "No, the on'y way to do this is through Citadel Control or Udina's terminal." Anthony stood at this.

"Captain, let me do it." At Anderson's surprised look, Anthony continued, clenching his fist. "I'll go to the embassy and get the lock canceled. And if he's there...well, he owes me one, anyway. I can't let you put your own career on the line." Shepard stood as well, getting close enough to Anthony so he would hear as he spoke quietly.

"Snyder, what the hell do you think that's going to accomplish?" Anthony stared right back at John, a look of determination on his face.

"Keeping a promise to a friend."

* * *

><p>Getting back onto the Presidium had been easy. Apparently, the only C-Sec officers that were informed of his confinement to the <em>Normandy<em> had been the ones stationed there. _'Thank god police in this century still don't think of shit like this.'_ Once in the embassies, Anthony made his way directly to humanity's office. As the door slid open, he grinned a little as he saw Udina sitting at his terminal. _'Good, now I won't have to try and hack it.'_ Udina looked up as the door opened, standing once he recognized the person entering.

"Snyder! How the hell did you get here?" Anthony ignored him as he made his way purposefully over to the desk. "I'll have you court-marshaled for th-" The sound of flesh strking flesh cut off Udina's rant as Anthony sent a right cross directly to the ambassador's jaw. The satisfying thud of an unconscious body hitting the floor followed a moment later.

"Like I give a fuck, you prick." Anthony sat at the terminal and started filing through menus and files. Finally, he was able to trace the message to Citadel Control that locked out the _Normandy's_ systems. Writing up a quick message to release control, he sent it off, standing and running out of the office. Pulling up his omni-tool as he ran, he called up the comm frequency to the ship, relaying to Joker's station, knowing that Shepard would be there by now as well. "Snyder to Shepard. Lockpick is good. Returning to base." Shepard's voice answered a moment later. _*Recieved, Snyder. Get your ass back here. The safe is open.*_ Not bothering to answer, Anthony set out in a dead run towards the docks.

Finally getting to the elevators, Anthony sighed quietly, trying to relax and keep his composure while walking through C-Sec. He took the time to take several deep, steadying breaths as the elevator rose, keeping a neutral expression as the elevator opened. Stepping out, he calmly walked towards the elevator to the docks. He had barely made it a few steps out of the elevator, however, before a hand clapped down on his shoulder, the voice of a turian in his ear. "And just where the hell do you think you're going, human?" Looking up, the turian had what only could be called a smug expression on his face, holding up his own omni-tool, proudly displaying Anthony's service picture. "This just came in a minute ago from your embassy. Why don't you come over here and we'll talk." Anthony sighed and nodded softly. A moment later, he shoved the officer away, dashing to the elevator to the docks, again opening his omni-tool as he ran. "Shepard, take off now! C-Sec knows something's up!"

Before he could hear Shepard's response, he was tackled from behind, hitting the deck hard. He quickly felt another weight on him, finding himself pinned to the ground by another turian and a human. His wrists were quickly pulled behind him, metal cuffs securing them. He stopped struggling once the cuffs were on. A moment later, the weight came off of him and he could breathe again. Being hauled to his feet, he was now face to face with the turian that had originally stopped him.

"Human, you've just made me have the beginning of a very bad day..." He simply grinned as he was pulled over to the C-Sec offices. Once they entered the station, Anthony was pulled over towards the holding cells. The turian reached up, putting a finger to his headset. "Control, we've got the human. He was sending a message to someone, though, possibly a ship. Check the-" The turian stopped walking as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the radio. "What? How the hell did..." He trailed off as Anthony started chuckling.

"The _Normandy_ is off to save all your asses. Trust me, you'll be thanking me once this is all over." The turian growled and gave Anthony a hard shove forward, causing him to trip on the edge of the doorway into an empty cell. He fell hard to the floor, his hands still in cuffs, keeping him from breaking his fall. The turian walked in behind him, reaching down and removing his omni-tool before undoing the cuffs, quickly stepping out and activating a barrier field to keep him in.

"Oops. I forgot to tell you, watch that first step. Don't want to get all bruised before Alliance MP's get here, you know." With that, the turian walked off and out of Anthony's view from the cell. Picking himself off the floor, he sighed. Taking a seat on the bench, he let his head rest back on the metal wall, looking up towards the ceiling.

_'Well, there goes being a Marine, again. And I was just getting used to it, too...Shepard...you'd better fuck Saren's plans up.'_

* * *

><p>AN: Wow! A lot going on in this chapter. Well, I thought the normal "Oh, no, the ship's grounded" bit in the game was a little dull, so this is my way of spicing it up a bit. Making some better friends, the betrayal at the Council, an idea that may or may not go anywhere, and knocking Udina on his ass where he belongs. When playing, I did both options, and Udina's is much more satisfying. And what's this? Our hero in jail on charges of treason? What's going to happen? I have no idea! Wait...actually, I do know. One more chapter left for Mass Effect 1, and then we begin to move into the start of Mass Effect 2! Originally, I was going to make each game it's own story, but I'll just keep going in this one. I'm kind of curious how long it's going to be. Unless you all want them seperate. Let me know in a review, if you have an opinion, I guess. See you all next chapter! Same time, same channel!


	16. Murphy Strikes Again

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XVI

Murphy Strikes Again

The holding cell was quiet and quite boring. The yells of other prisoners carried through the cell block, either drunken rants about things being unfair, or calls of others demanding to see their advocates. Anthony sat on the hard bench, a datapad in his hands, one with a very limited and monitored connection to the extranet. Passing the time on various pages, he looked up as the sound of a throat clearing itself interrupted the relative calm. Looking up, on the other side of the barrier, was Captain Anderson. Anthony stood and saluted, which Anderson returned.

"At ease, Sargent." When Anthony relaxed a bit, Anderson just chuckled. "I never thought I'd be seeing one of my men in here on treason charges, Snyder. But then again, knocking Udina onto his pompous ass is a better reason than most." Snyder just grinned at that, replaying the moment in his head.

"My only regret, sir, is I didn't have the presence of mind to tie him up. Then I might have made it back to the _Normandy_." Anderson just sighed.

"And I'm sure you know, Snyder, that what you just said was recorded?" Anthony just shrugged, leaning back against the wall of the cell. "Well, hopefully Shepard gets back and has all the proof to get you out of here. I'm about to leave for Arcturus. I'm not sure how much I can do with the Alliance brass to get your charges dropped, but at the very least, I think I can get them brought down to simply imprisonment." Anthony nodded, sighing, sitting back down on the bench.

"I understand, sir, and I appreciate your trying. Who knows? Maybe what brought me here will show up again and I'll be able to slip out that way." Anderson just nodded.

"Perhaps, son. I've spoken to Executor Pallin, and asked him to allow this to be a wholly Alliance matter. So for right now, C-Sec is holding you here until you can be extradited to Alliance space. Since the incident happened in the Human embassy, it was on Alliance sovereign ground, and falls completely to us." Anthony smirked as he leaned back against the wall behind the bench.

"Great...so instead of getting killed or forever imprisoned by a bunch of aliens, I get to come home to Earth for the first time in..." Anthony stopped himself before he slipped, already having enough people know the truth about his origins. "...a long time, and I get to be killed or imprisoned by my own kind. You know, like civilized humans?" Anderson nodded solemnly.

"Something like that, yes. Sny-...Anthony. From the reports I read from Shepard, you deserve a damned medal...and probably having them taken right back for being reckless. But you got the job done, minimum collateral damage. That's tops in my book. I'll be honest with you." Anderson relaxed his stance a little more, looking down at the deck for a moment before looking Anthony in the eyes.

"I wasn't sure about bringing you in on this. But the way you fit in with the crew on the way back from Eden Prime was like you were born to serve on the _Normandy._ You made quite the impression on John, and I'm not talking about landing on him. He was the one to ask me to see if I could get you reinstated." Anthony looked up, the surprise evident on his face. "He would have pulled you off the _Normandy_ for his next command. First time I've heard of something like that in years."

"That...I suppose I'm going to have to thank John when I see him next. Who knows where I would have wound up. And the past few weeks has been...well, I don't really know how to describe it. Like going to a whole new place and feeling like I'm coming home at the same time." Anderson smiled and nodded, going to say something else before a voice behind him interrupted the meeting.

"Captain Anderson? The CO of the _Cairo_ just sent a message over. She's requesting you make your way over to the docks, they're getting ready to depart." Turning, Anderson was a little surprised to find Executor Pallin had been the one to bring the message.

"Oh...thank you, Executor. I'm a little surprised to see you here." Pallin nodded and gave the turian equivalent of a smile.

"Yes, well, I caught Ambassador Udina looking for you around the embassy. When I realized this is where you would be, I decided to bring the message instead of having to listen to someone explain why someone was unconscious because of hitting the barriers here in the cell block at high speed." Anthony shook his head, standing.

"I'm not going to charge at him, if that's what you were worried about. I'm not that impulsive and violent. I did what I had to." Pallin shook his head and raised his hands.

"Relax, I'm not here to put you on trial right now. And no, I wasn't worried about you, but about Udina getting knocked out. Again. Not that the man doesn't deserve it once in a while. A nice spar every so often is how we turians work out differences between ourselves. Perhaps humans might take up the habit?" Both Anderson and Anthony grinned at that. After a moment, Anderson straightened a bit.

"Well, then, I'd best not keep the _Cairo_ waiting. Captain McCall doesn't like to be set off schedule if she can help it. Executor...Sargent." Anthony nodded and stood, snapping off a crisp salute to Anderson, which he returned before turning and walking down the corridor. Pallin stayed behind, however, looking into the cell.

"I've set things up here for you, Sargent Snyder. Nobody on duty with you in here is a 'friend' of Ambassador Udina. Conflict of interest, you see. The barriers are set up on a closed-loop, hard-wired system, so even if you had your omni-tool, you wouldn't be able to hack or overload them." Anthony nodded softly. Pallin turned to walk away, but stopped after a step, looking over his shoulder. "As the officer in charge of your C-Sec case, I've reviewed your files, including Commander Shepard's reports. You may have a strange way of doing things, but they are honorable. I...hope the Alliance courts are lenient." Anthony gave the turian a small smile and a bit of a shrug.

"I hope so too, Executor. But thank you all the same." With that, Pallin nodded and left the cell block. Anthony sighed and turned back to the omni-tool.

_'It's going to be a looong few days. Fucking fantastic.'_

* * *

><p>Nearly a day later, Anthony was still cruising around the extranet to pass the time. Having looked around the Alliance legal system and finding nothing in the way of a loophole he could exploit, he simply had given up with that route, hoping Anderson might have some luck. A bit of commotion outside in the rest of the precinct began to carry into the holding cells. Standing and going to the barrier, he looked down the corridor as far as he could, only to see humans, turians, and even the few salarian C-Sec agents arming up, and quite heavily. Pulling up the omni-tool again, he tapped a few commands into it, sending a message to Executor Pallin. A minute later, the turian's voice came out of the holographic interface.<p>

_*I'm a little busy, human! What do you want?*_ Anthony looked down at the tool, worried as he heard heavy fighting in the background. "Well when I hear people freaking out and see the whole fucking precinct getting ready to do an assault, I get curious." Pallin's voice was curt as he responded. _*We've got geth on the presidium! So yeah, they're suiting up! It looks like they're actually coming out of the Relay Monument!*_ Anthony looked at the hologram for a moment, nearly stunned. "The monumen-"

Anthony froze in his words, remembering back to when he first saw the monument. "That's it...that's the Conduit...Pallin, Saren is going to be coming through that any second! You've got to get me out of here!" Pallin nearly laughed. _*Fat chance, human! I've got more than enough troub-* _Anthony cut him off.

"How many of your people have experience fighting geth? Oh, that's right...the only people that have even seen them in the last three hundred years has been Shepard's team. INCLUDING ME!" Pallin was quiet for a few moments. "I help finish this, it clears my name! It proves Udina was wrong!" After a long pause, the response came. _*Fine! I'll come down to get you myself. Wait there!* _With that, the connection was cut. Anthony scoffed and shut off the link. "Yeah...like I'm really going anywhere..."

About five minutes later, a heavily armed and armored turian came up to Anthony's cell. Punching in a code to the pad next to the cell, the barrier suddenly dropped. Taking off the helmet, Pallin's face greeted him. "I swear, human, if you try anything funny, the geth are going to be the least of your fucking problems." Anthony nodded, stepping into the corridor.

"Understood loud and clear. Now, if I'm going to be any help, I'm going to need to be armed and armored." Pallin thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Follow me, then. And keep close." Pallin put his helmet back on and turned, taking off down the hallway at a run. Anthony took off after the turian, keeping up as best as he could. _'Fuck, this guy can move!'_

Once the two got out of the precinct and into the rest of the academy, Pallin turned sharply, heading down to the armory where the group had stocked up before being grounded. Pallin looked around at the weapons and armor stocked up. "Alright, get yourself geared. I don't care what you take, but make it fast." Anthony nodded and made a quick survey of the room. Seeing the doorway to the rear of the shop, he made his way over to it. Going into the back room, he looked around at the so-called 'select stores. Seeing a section marked 'Spectre', he grinned. Moving over, he pulled out a weapons case for an assault rifle, shotgun, and sniper rifle. Seeing the armor cases, one drew his eye. A red and black case stamped with the word 'Colossus' on the side. Remembering the salarian merchant that sold him the omni-tool, he grabbed it and opened the case. Grinning at the red and black armor, he nodded as he pulled it out and began stripping down to skivvies. "Oh, hell yes."

Boots and legs came on in record time, torso and arms following. Kicking open the weapons cases as he pulled everything on, he smiled at the solid black coloring of the weapons. _'Well, at least I'll match.'_ Pulling the gloves on and grabbing the helmet, he looked up as Pallin came into the back room. "Hey, what the hell is-..." Pallin looked at the weapons and armor, then up to Anthony's face. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Those are Spectre weapons! Strictly controlled by Council orders!" Anthony pulled the helmet on and started securing the weapons on his back.

"Yeah, no shit! Geth are a fucking pain in the ass to take down, especially in numbers, and the last time I got a shot at Saren, an explosive sniper round aimed at his eye was just enough to knock him off balance. If we're going to make a dent, we're either going to need more C-Sec than you've got here, or people packing some serious hardware. Plus, I'm supposed to be brought back to Earth to be executed for treason. Put it on my fucking tab." Pallin's face hardened, but eventually he just nodded.

"Fine. But you're spending too much time with your commander. Being a Spectre, I expected going to his head, but his crew? Too much. But, no matter how much I don't like it...you're right. Now let's move!" Anthony nodded and gripped the assault rifle tightly, following the turian out and through the academy. Heading to the elevator coming to the far side of the Presidium from the Tower, both stepped in. Anthony looked over.

"Ok, how bad was it up there when you left?" Pallin just shook his head.

"It wan't good, that's for sure. Geth just kept appearing out of nowhere. Civilians got out as fast as they could, but a few went down for sure. There's not a whole lot of cover up there, and the regular security could barely do anything. I just thank Spirits I keep all this in my office just in case." Anthony nodded and checked the weapon in his hands once more.

As the doors slid open to the Presidium, both men were at the ready to fire. Seeing nothing synthetic near their position, Pallin took the lead out of the elevator. There was still sounds of sporadic gunfire coming from the direction of the Tower elevator and Relay Monument. Anthony looked over to the turian. "I'm going to guess the Council has another way out of the Tower than that elevator?" Pallin nodded.

"Of course. An emergency shuttle is always there, just in case. By now, they should be on the _Ascension_, and the fleet should be on it's way in in case anyone decides to be stupid enough to try and attack from space as well." Anthony nodded and looked over towards the Tower, not seeing much in the way of geth anymore. Putting the assault rifle away and pulling out the sniper rifle, he looked to Pallin.

"Cover me. I'll take them out from here." Pallin looked around and then back towards the area of fighting off in the distance.

"You can hit a geth at this distance?" Anthony smirked as he leaned the rifle against one of the low handrails, raising his eye to the scope.

"Oh, I can hit more than one..."

* * *

><p>Taking out the majority of the geth at the base of the tower was simple, but a few had managed to get into cover from Anthony's sniper perch. As he and the Executor were slowly moving up towards them, however, the Relay Monu-<em>'The Conduit'<em>, Anthony told himself in his head, suddenly sparked to life again, a faint blue glow coming from the center of the rings, as they began rotating faster and faster.

With a crack like a thunderclap and a bright flash, suddenly the roar of an engine was heard as a white missile shot out of the Conduit. It must have been going in at some kind of strange angle, because before either stunned man could blink, it careened out of control, rolling onto it's side, crushing the three geth that had been out of Anthony's sight lines. Both men looked at each other disbelievingly at the sight before them. Pallin was the first to speak. "It's...a tank? Who...from where?" Anthony lifted the sniper rifle again, watching through the scope as the hatch swung open.

"It's a Mako...like the one we have...on the _Normandy_!" Watching closely, he lowered his weapon as he recognized the people coming out as John, Tali, and Ashley. "Not like it...that _is_ it!" Putting the rifle back in it's spot, he took off at a run towards the wreck, Pallin calling after.

"Dammit, human, wait!" Anthony ignored the turian behind him as he sprinted down the walkways towards his shipmates. Starting to follow, reports of more geth in other areas of the station coming across his radio and omni-tool stopped him in his tracks. Watching the human run, he sighed and turned back towards the elevator. "Next time, Snyder."

Not encountering any geth on the way, he called out as he got a bit closer. "Hey, Commander!" Shepard looked up, him and the rest leveling weapons at the noise and the rapidly approaching figure, but standing down as they realized who it was. As he finally got up to them, he grinned. "Need another gun?" Shepard grinned and waved the Sargent over, giving him a brotherly one-arm hug when he got to the group.

"Could always use another one of those. I'm not even going to ask how you got a hold of armor and weapons because I probably don't want to know." Anthony smiled in return, Ashley looking on in disbelief.

"Is that Colossus armor? And what weapons are those?" Anthony pulled the shotgun from it's spot at the small of his back, letting it unfold.

"Yep. Pallin got me out of my cell. Long story short, I had to knock Udina out to get the _Normandy_ clear, and I got tagged in the academy. Anderson's trying to get me off easy, but neither of us believe it. So when I got out, I convinced Pallin to let me arm up. All this stuff was earmarked for Spectres, so I figured I might as well bring the big guns. So, that's been me, how have you all been?" Ash, Tali, and John all looked surprised at him, nobody noticing the elevator arriving. Tali spoke up, but quietly.

"What do you mean 'get you off easy'? How much trouble are you in?" Shepard sighed as he looked over to Anthony.

"Attacking Udina and overriding the lockdown? That's treason. One of the few remaining capital offences in the Alliance." Anthony nodded.

"Yeah. But hey, enough about this. I'll deal with it when they bring me back to Earth. Did you guys get Saren on Ilos?" At John's shake of the head, Anthony looked over to the elevator. "Well, I doubt he went anywhere else. Who's up for a long elevator ride?" Ashley smiled and nodded, hefting her assault rifle.

"As long as we all get a shot at that asshole up top." Shepard nodded and turned around, walking into the elevator, the now four man team following him. The elevator door slid closed and started making it's way up the shaft toward the council chambers. Ashley looked over to Anthony, curious.

"So, how the hell did you get the turian captain of C-Sec to let a human charged with treason not only out of his cell, but arm himself?" Anthony smiled, looking out as the elevator passed out of the Presidium, the transparent walls opening into space, showing the Citadel.

"Well, when I heard that geth were suddenly appearing out of nowhere, I told him he wanted someone that knows how to fight geth." Shepard grinned at that.

"And without one of those around, he might as well get your help?" Anthony chuckled a bit and nodded. He was about to answer when suddenly, the elevator shook a bit. Then it gave a lurch and stopped dead in it's tracks, sending it's occupants off balance and onto the floor. Slowly picking themselves up, everyone started looking around to see what happened. A gasp from Tali caught the other's attention, and their gaze followed hers.

Now attached to the top of the Citadel Tower was Sovereign. It's various 'legs' were still moving around, sending small shocks through the building as they made contact again. Anthony's voice broke the awed silence. "Well, that's an eye-opener, make no mistake..." Nods greeted the sentiment. After a moment, he went over and tapped on the controls, but the elevator refused to move. "Well, looks like we're stuck in here, then. Dammit..." Shepard tapped on the wall of the elevator, the sound of glass meeting his knocks.

"Nope. Everyone seal up. We're going outside." Ash tapped the side of her helmet, the environmental seal covering the open part of her face. Anthony looked a little nervously at the exterior of the station.

"You mean...out there? Hard vacuum?" Shepard nodded and, once he sealed his own suit, reached over and tapped the side of Anthony's helmet. The faceplate slid into place, a soft hiss marking the seal. Over the internal radio, Shepard's voice came as if the helmets were still open.

"I know you haven't had any Zero-G training, but don't worry. Once hard seals are active, boots become magnetized. You'll stick to the outside of the station as if we were still inside. Just keep your eyes on the hull. Try not to look at the stars or anything. It'll help with the vertigo." Anthony sighed and nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Sure. No promises, though." Shepard nodded and gave one more check to his own seals. Seeing they were good, and getting a thumbs up from Ashley and a nod from Tali, Shepard pulled out his shotgun. Leveling it at the window, he pulled the trigger. A sudden small rush of the atmosphere in the elevator pushed the shattering glass out into space. Ash and John took the steps forward out of the elevator, planting boots onto the side of the station, standing completely sideways from Anthony's point of view.

Tali's hand on his arm made him look at the quarian beside him. A soft nod from her later, and she slowly walked to the edge, stepping out and onto the station's hull. Turning back to the elevator, she reached out her hand again. "Here. It's only weird the first time. You get used to it pretty quickly."

Anthony took the three-fingered hand in his and stepped out of the elevator. He was met with the strange sensation of floating as he passed out of the mass effect field on the interior of the station. Floating a little more, he felt Tali pull him down to what he now tried to force himself to think of as the ground. As his boots connected and stuck, he closed his eyes, looking downwards. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes again, looking up towards where Shepard and Ash were making their way towards the top of the Tower. After a few moments, Tali's voice broke into his thoughts. "You alright, Anthony?" Looking over to her, he smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see it behind the breather mask. _'Wow...this must be what it's like for her every day...'_

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go and finish this."

* * *

><p>The trip up the side of the tower hadn't been easy, but the fighting was very different, to Anthony. Just enough force to break the magnetic bonds was all that was needed to knock geth troopers and even a few krogan off the hull and spinning off into empty space. The Citadel had apparently closed in on itself, but once they got caught in the mass effect fields of the wards, they would quickly be taken care of from the fall. Tali had managed to hack into a few of the defense turrets they passed, firing on any dropships before they could offload more troops, as well as taking potshots at the Reaper in front of them.<p>

Finally making it to the top, the four started searching around for an access hatch to get into the council chambers. The hull of the station was all the same flat color with enough formless seams, bumps, and conduits, none of which Anthony could make any sense of. Tali's voice came over the radio a few moments later. "I think I found a service hatch up here. It should get us in where the elevator comes out." Everyone made their way over to where Tali was standing, looking at the door at their feet. Shepard nodded and pulled up his omni-tool, connecting with the door. Recognizing him as a Spectre, the lock indicator glowed green. Activating it and once again making the strange step to transition from one plane of walking into another, the team stepped in one at a time to the Council chambers.

The door closed behind them, sealing them off from the vacuum of space. The interior door opened, and, with rifles raised, they stepped in. Almost immediately, however, they came under fire from the geth that had come into the chambers with Saren. Ducking for cover behind the planters, Shepard started giving orders.

"Tali, see if you can hack a few of them. I know it won't work for long, but it'll help. Try that combat drone you were working on, too. It'll at least distract them. Anthony, you and Ash lay down some cover. The Council may bitch at me for it, but grenade craters are better than all of us dying." Nods from each member answered the orders. Tali brought up her omni-tool, a small holographic sphere springing to life in front of her. It zoomed off to the side, and as soon as it was out of cover, the geth troopers began firing at it. Nodding, shepard pulled out a few grenades, beginning to prime them. Ash and Anthony popped up out of cover, assault rifles sending rounds downrange and into the geth forces.

The distraction from the drone was just enough to allow the two humans to get the best of the geth, quickly bringing down shields and sending them for better cover. Shepard popped up as well, heaving the grenades over the planter. Having set them for impact detonation instead of timed or remote, the explosives quickly did their job, sending geth flying away from their cover, mostly in many pieces.

Anthony and Ashley both began moving up on either side of the planter, trying to cover as much of the room as they could as they moved. Anthony's weapon erupted into action once more as a geth trooper started to pull itself to standing. The rounds tore into the geth's head, shields still down from the grenade, sending sparks flying and the synthetic back to the floor, no longer moving. Anthony looked back towards John. "Clear!"

An echoing call from Ash brought John and Tali out from their positions, starting up the stairs to the presentation area, Anthony and Ashley following close behind. As soon as they got to the top of the stairs, all four leveled their weapons straight at...an empty platform. The presenter's dais was extended by a good ten meters, a holographic screen at the far end, which was now nearly at the center of the room. A station map was sprawled across it, with data pouring across various parts of it. A humming sound slowly grew louder as suddenly Saren appeared on his hovering platform. As soon as he got above the screen, a small disc-shaped object came hurtling towards the group. Shepard's eyes went wide. "GRENADE!"

All four dove for cover, the explosive detonating mere moments too late, sending up a small cloud of smoke, flame, and debris. Saren's voice carried smugly around the room, over the constant sounding of the alarms. "I thought you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard." Shepard peeked out just enough to get a glimpse of the turian out of the corner of his eye, but not enough for Saren to get a good shot.

"I had to take out a couple of hundred of your followers on the way here. So sorry to keep you waiting." Shepard looked over to Anthony as he spoke, using hand signals to tell him to circle back and get into position with his sniper rifle. Nodding, Anthony slowly started moving along the larger planter he was hiding behind, making his way to the side of the room, out of direct view. Hopping over the wall and into the dirt, he crawled his way down to the lower tier, Saren's voice echoing throughout the cavernous room.

"You've lost. You know that, don't you? Soon, Sovereign will have full control of all the Citadel's systems. The Relay will open. The Reapers will return." Anthony jumped down the wall to the lower platform. Moving over towards the small garden plot in the middle of the room, he ducked behind a boulder. Laying flat, he pulled forward the sniper rifle, setting it up and peering down the scope. He saw John reach up, tapping his helmet, putting his mic to open so Anthony could hear him. Saren continued, gloating at his apparent victory.

"The Reapers can't be stopped. Not by the Protheans, not by you. The Cycle _always_ continues." Shepard got to a knee, making a fist out of Saren's view, letting Anthony see it so he knew to hold hid fire for now. He then stood, standing where Saren could see him. Surprisingly, the rogue Spectre didn't fire just yet.

"You could have resisted. You could have fought it. You didn't. You quit!" Under his breath, he added just for Anthony to hear. "Watch my hand for the signal." Saren seemed to think on John's words.

"Maybe...maybe you're right. Maybe there's still a chance for...AARRGHH!" Saren went down to a knee, suddenly crippled by pain. He gripped the edge of his platform tightly. Shepard's hand flattened out in a motion to wait. Saren Slowly stood, his voice filled with pain. "The...implants. Soveriegn is...too strong. It's too late for me." Shepard took a step forward.

"There's still a way out of this for you...if you've got the balls for it." Saren stared at Shepard, then simply laughed. His voice, however, had a strange double tone to it.

"You should have joined us when you had the chance, Shepard." Shepard's hand clenched into a tight fist, and Anthony took this as his signal. Pulling the trigger, an echoing crack sounded through the chamber. Saren's head jolted back as the round drilled through. A spray of deep purple blood exited the back of the turian's head, the round hitting the window behind him, creating a spiderweb crack, but not shattering. The turian's body fell backwards from the momentum, falling from the platform, which also seemed to lose power. A loud crash of glass sounded as the body and platform fell through to the small zen garden below, landing in a heap. Anthony grinned and stood. "For you, Kaiden."

Shepard ran up to the interface and began working as Anthony came back up the stairs. Tali actually came over and hugged him tightly, before suddenly pulling away, acting quite embarassed. Ashley grinned and walked over, slapping the medic and sniper on the shoulder. "Nice shot, old man. Maybe you should have been a sniper full-time?" Anthony just grinned and shrugged. As the team walked over to John, they were just in time to hear the distress call from the _Destiny Ascencion_, and Joker's question. Ashley moved over to John. "Commander, they doubted you the whole time. Hell, they probably still don't believe in the Reapers. Try to save them and we'll loose human lives, and we might not even make it." Tali looked over to Ashley, her voice firm.

"This is bigger than humanity! Shepard, you have to save the Council!" Shepard looked up to Anthony. Blinking at the sudden pressure put on him, he reached up, rubbing the back of his neck through the helmet seals.

"If this is going to be a war with the Reapers...having everyone up in arms over the Council buying it isn't going to help. Plus, having three high-level politicians owing you their asses is always a good thing." Shepard nodded, grinning as he moved to the holographic controls.

"Good point. Joker, I'm opening the station and unlocking the relays. Get The 5th Fleet in here and cover the _Ascension_, no matter the cost!" Ash sighed and looked up to John.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Skipper." John sighed and nodded.

"So do I, Ash. Snyder...not that I'm doubting your shooting...but get down there and put another bullet in him. Make sure that fucker is dead." Anthony grinned and nodded, pulling the shotgun off his back.

"Aye, Commander. With pleasure." Anthony looked over the edge of the platform. Judging the distance, he hopped off to the floor just a few feet from the glass ceiling of the garden. Walking carefully on the compromised floor, he made his way to a somewhat clear spot. Jumping down once again, he tucked into a roll as he landed. Getting back to his feet, he walked over to the body laying on the floor. Reaching down to check for a pulse, and satisfied there was none, he leveled his shotgun at Saren's chest.

Another bang echoed through the chamber as he pulled the trigger, a spray of blood coming up, landing on his arms, chest, and a bit on his face and visor. Anthony turned with a satisfied smirk on his face, tilting his head up towards John. "Commander, Saren has offcially CNC. And now I need to clean my new armor." John's voice came back down to him.

"CNC? Mind filling me in on that one?" Anthony grinned, chuckling a little as he let the shotgun fold, placing it on his back. He didn't notice the slight twitching that Saren's body was making, nor the fact the body was actually slowly picking itself up off the ground.

"Cancelled next Christmas. CNC." Shepard's laughter came across the radio.

"You've got some twisted sense of humor, Snyder. Come on. Let's get up here and see what we can do about getting this Reaper off the station." Saren's body was now standing completely upright. Anthony was about to answer when a horrid screech came from behind him. He turned to find Saren standing behind him, his skin and armor seeming to burn off, revealing a twisted skeleton of cybernetics and implants. An arm shot out, claw tipped hands grabbing Anthony around the throat and lifting him off the ground. Anthony gasped as the pressure even went through the armor, choking him. His hands came up to grab at the hand, trying to pry it off.

There was the sound of a roar, and Anthony felt the strange feeling of soaring through the air. He just barely had enough time to hear the three others above cry out to him before impacting the wall of the garden. The wind was knocked out of him, but he barely had a moment to appreciate the feeling before the back of his helmet impacted the wall as well.

And everything went dark.

* * *

><p>AN: Dunnnn Dunnn DUNNN! You know...I never liked reading cliffhangers, but I now understand the reason authors put them in. They're fun! Anyway, that's just about it for ME1! I'll probably fit in one or two more chapters about the aftermath of the Battle of the Citadel, then it'll be the Collector attack. After that, I'm probably going to take a little bit of a break for the holidays and to plan out Mass Effect 2. The two years between won't be fully written out, but I have a good plan for at least the beginning of that. The rest will be a bit of a summary chapter. As always, please let me know what you think! Until next time!


	17. Aftermath

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XVII

Aftermath

Anthony was aware of very little after he hit the ground in the garden, but some sounds and sensations made it through the haze in his mind. Yelling. Gunfire. Another horrible screech. A loud crash and sudden pain on his leg. The smell of fire. He tried to will himself to move, but couldn't. Then there was nothing for a while. Then, the sound of moving metal, and shouting. A sharp pain on his neck and suddenly, the haze began to lift. Forcing his eyes open, he immediately shut them again at the bright light being shone in his face. Raising his arm, he tried to block his eyes. A voice greeted the movement, one he didn't recognize.

"Captain Anderson, he's awake! We'll get him down to the hospital." The feeling of being rolled to the side and something placed beneath him let him know what was happening, and he reached out, grabbing at the first thing he could. It turned out to be the leg of one of the C-Sec recovery teams.

"No litter. Just help me." He opened his eyes again to see the agent squat down next to him.

"Sir, a piece of the ship that crashed through the chamber hit your lower leg. We need to get you stabilized and down to the hospital." Anthony shook his head, leaning back on the ground.

"I officially refuse. If it hit a major blood vessel, I'd be dead by now. It hurts like hell, so it's probably broken. Just slap some medigel on it for the moment and help me up." He looked up to the official, determination set in his gaze. "I'm walking out of here even if it kills me." The official sighed and nodded, pulling out a vial of medigel and pressing it into the injection port on the leg of the armor. A pinch shot through his leg as the internal needle pierced his skin, only to be replaced by the cool numbing sensation as the gel went to work.

With a hand under his shoulder on his right, he slowly stood, using the man beside him as a balance. Reaching out and grabbing a roughly cylindrical piece of debris, he tucked it under his arm, using it as a makeshift crutch. Walking through the garden, he kept as much weight as he could off his right leg and on the crutch. Small stabs of pain accompanied each step of his injured leg, but it was dulled enough by the medigel that he could power through it.

Hearing more scraping coming from behind him, he turned his head to look. The main part of the chamber was filled with what looked like one of the legs from Sovereign, the metal twisted and shattered in some places. Anderson and another C-Sec medic were helping Tali and Ashley out from under a piece of debris. There was, however, no sign of John. Ash and Tali both carried themselves as if defeated, Ash's helmet hiding most of her face. The four made their way over to where Anthony and the other medic were standing.

As the two small groups met, Ash gave Anthony a small hug. Anthony sighed and placed his arm around the woman's shoulders. He knew that the two had grown closer to each other since Eden Prime. And now, with most of the Council chambers in ruins, it looked like tha-

A creak interrupted Anthony's thoughts, calling everyone's attention towards the far end of the chamber. Anthony grinned and hobbled his way until he was facing the area the noise came from. His voice was quiet, but full of admiration. "You stubborn son of a bitch..." Ash slowly raised her head, turning to look over her shoulder. There, standing upon a small piece of debris and slowly making his way towards them, was John. He held his arm close to his chest, and Anthony could tell even from a distance that his shoulder was dislocated by the odd angle of his armor, but he walked over with a shit-eating grin on his face. Ashley smiled and let go of Anthony, walking up to Shepard. First, she hit him in his good arm, hard. Before he could even reply to it, though, she wrapped her arms around him, kissing the Commander hard. Anthony just chuckled and slowly turned, hobbling his way over to Anderson, who was just shaking his head at the two. Looking over as Anthony walked closer, he sighed.

"By the grin on your face, Snyder, I'm guessing this is something relatively new between the two of them?" Anthony nodded softly, sighing as he reached up with a hand, pulling off his helmet as best he could. Once it was off, he held the armor piece at his side.

"Aye, sir. I think most of the ground team knew they were close, maybe even some of the crew. But, uh...it hadn't gone that far." Anderson made a small grunt as John and Ash broke apart again, but neither made any attempt to move. Anthony just shook his head softly. "Captain...maybe we should just...chalk it up to post-battle adrenalin?" Anderson sighed and just nodded.

"I think that would be best, Sargent. Now...let's get you down to see a doctor. Your leg looks in bad shape." Anthony looked down and nodded. A small line of dried blood had trailed down a partially crushed piece of the calf armor. He smiled as he tapped on his makeshift crutch.

"As long as I get to keep this little trophy, I'm good. Using a bit of a Reaper to steady an injured organic seems like decent irony." Anderson chuckled.

"That it is, Anthony. By the way, I have some good news for you." At Anthony's questioning look, Anderson smiled, resting a hand on his shoulder. "When you're back on your feet, son. But I'll tell you this, at least. Everyone dies sometime, but yours shouldn't be for a long time yet." Amthony smiled and nodded as he continued to hobble along toward the now restored elevator.

"Thank you, Captain."

* * *

><p>Down in the Presidium Hospital, the scene was what could only be called organized chaos as John, Anthony, Ashley, and Tali had all been brought in. The entire emergency treatment department was full of both C-Sec and civilians, doctors of every species working alongside each other to stabilize the severely wounded, and treat as best as they could. A quick scan of the group revealed Tali and Ashley with no major injuries, the tech tagging their armor with green labels. John's arm had been deemed a minor break, and while Anthony's leg was a bit more serious, there was no longer any major bleeding and the break was also quite clean, earning both a yellow tag. Moving off to scan the next patients, the group was directed to a room off to the side by another tech, a young human woman who apparently had realized who Shepard was, giving the Spectre and his group a place a little away from the rest of the ER, in case the Council decided to visit.<p>

The room was the only one big enough for the group and able to give them a little bit of privacy that wasn't already filled with patients. Holos of children of every race adorned the walls, most playing with various toys. Ashley looked around at the walls, shaking her head. "They stick us in the kiddie room?" Anthony chuckled.

"Basic mass-casualty protocols. Good to see they still make sense after all this time." At Ash's confused look, he continued as he hobbled over to one of the exam beds, sitting down to take the pressure off his leg. "You and Tali are green tags. Walking wounded, no major injuries. Me and the Commander are yellow tags. Some problems, but nothing that's going to kill us right now. Red tags are the next one up. They're the ones that need immediate treatment. Then...there's black tags." When Anthony didn't elaborate, Tali looked over, her voice a little nervous as she asked.

"And what do the black tags mean?" Anthony sighed and shook his head.

"Black tags mean they're dead or about to be. And as cold as it might sound, they aren't worth the resources to try to save. Sticking around with one black tag to try and keep them going, and you might loose several people that are red tags. Simple numbers." Tali looked down to the floor, quiet. "Anyway, I saw down one of the halls when we came in. They have a seperate ER for kids. This treatment room is probably for when a kid and their parent are both in an accident or something. Keep them together to keep the kid from freaking." A voice from the door startled all but Shepard, who had noticed the group approaching down the hall from his position.

"It would seem, Mr. Snyder, that an old human saying...from around your time would fit. 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it'." Everyone looked up as Councillor Tevos stepped into the room, Councilors Velarn and Morroth standing on either side and slightly behind her, a few C-Sec officers in the hallway as well. Anthony looked up in surprise, before bowing his head respectfully. Shepard looked up to the Councillors.

"Councillor, how long have you known?" Tevos merely smiled softly.

"Commander Shepard, we have had the reports from Eden Prime ever since you became a Spectre, including the originals about Mr. Snyder's origins." She raised her arm, activating her omni-tool. A moment later, an image was floating above it, showing an small clip from Ashley's helmet camera, showing the rift appearing and Anthony being thrown from it. "With direct evidence like this, it was difficult to dismiss the idea that he is, in fact, from the past." Anthony sighed, nodding.

"I figured you all would find out sooner or later, Councillor. I thought I wouldn't be until Udina came to you from me knocking him out, though." Tevos nodded and the other two stepped into the room, Velarn speaking as he did.

"I don't say this very often, human, but I was wrong. We, the Council, owe our lives to your actions. If you hadn't set out to release the _Normandy_ at any cost, It is very possible that Saren would have succeded in his attempt to destroy not only the Citadel, but quite possibly the Galaxy as we know it." The three councillors stepped aside for a moment as a nurse stepped into the room, moving to Anthony and scanning his leg. Councillor Morroth chose to speak next.

"Because of this, we came here to extend our thanks to all of your team, Agent Shepard. The captain of the _Destiny Ascension_ heard your orders to the Alliance fleet to protect us. While we did hope and expect this, it is still most appreciated." Tevos stepped forward a bit, looking to John.

"Commander, in honor of this sacrifice, we, the Council, have decided that humanity has proven that it's goals are aligned with our own, and have earned the right to join our ranks." Everyone in the room, even the nurse that was attending to Anthony, all stopped and looked to the Council in shock. A small clang sounded as the piece of Anthony's leg armor the nurse had just pried off clattered to the floor. The nurse stammered out a quiet apology and returned to his work. Tevos nodded and simply smiled. "Of course, I would like to ask for that piece of information not to leave this room until we make the official announcement. That is the other reason we are here." Turning to face John fully, Councillor Morroth spoke again.

"Agent Shepard, as the first human Spectre, and as the forefront in the hunt of Saren, I don't think it's unreasonable to assume a recommendation from you would go a long way." Shepard leaned back against the counter, quietly thinking for a moment. Looking back over to the Council, he answered.

"Anderson. He may not be a politician, but he has a military mind. The Reapers are coming. We may have stopped the first one, but they're still out there." Tevos nodded.

"Very well, Shepard. We'll take our leave and allow you some time to heal. Once the doctors have cleared you and your team for duty, again, we will contact you with your next assignment." Shepard stood and bowed slightly to the Council, as did Ashley and Tali. Anthony bowed his head as well, but still remained seated as the nurse continued with his leg, now applying medigel and layers of a cast-like material. As the Council left, John once again leaned back on the counter, looking at the others in the room.

"You know, Snyder...I suppose you're right." Anthony looked over, meeting Shepard's grin. "Having a few politicians owing me is a good feeling." Anthony just joined Shepard in laughter.

* * *

><p>Three days later, Anthony sat in the medbay of the <em>Normandy<em>. Helen had simply given him a look when he limped onto the ship, Reaper-crutch under his arm. Now, she had forced him to keep the piece of metal in the cargo bay until someone could machine the piece of metal into a proper crutch, giving him one from the medical stores. Finally having the cast off his leg was a relief, the bone having been set and healed nicely, thanks to regular injections of medigel.

"So, Anthony, what do you plan on doing now? I'll still keep you up to date, if you'd like, but...since you are no longer a part of the military..." She trailed off, looking over the latest scan of the break. Anthony sighed and stood, testing his weight.

"Honestly, I don't know. John said I can stay on as long as I want, since, technically, it's his ship. I guess I'll just stick around for a while. Back in my time, I did eventually want to become a nurse once I got out of the military. So maybe I can head back to Earth and do that." Dr. Chakwas nodded as she moved over, reaching down and beginning to poke and prod at Anthony's leg.

"Any pain?" At the shake of his head, she stood again. "Well, I think that would certainly be something you are more than capable of. Perhaps you could even study somewhere else, offworld Thessia, for instance. I'm sure Liara would give you a recommendation to the University of Serrice." Anthony nodded and pulled his pants leg back down, finally being able to walk around again without having a giant roll of cloth at his thigh.

"Maybe. Like I said, I've got to think about it, now. I was just getting used to being a military man, again. But right now, at least, we're still going on. Apparently, saving the Galaxy from having all civilization destroyed made Shepard quite popular." Anthony raised his hands and started counting off items. "Fifth Fleet calling to help with something on the moon, or Luna, as I've heard it's called now...An admiral asking for help to find some of his men...some asari diplomat asking for help rescuing her sister...and, of all things, a woman asking us to bump off her business partners to take a criminal organization in what she says will be a better direction." Helen shook her head softly, walking back over to her desk.

"I'm starting to regret taking this posting, you know. Between you and John, one of you is almost constantly here in my medbay." Anthony smiled a little sheepishly and stood, walking over to the door, as it slid open, she called after him. "You know the drill, Mr. Snyder! Any pain, and straight back here!"

"Yes, Mom." Anthony slipped out quickly before she could answer, heading towards the stairs and climbing up to the main deck. Nodding to Pressly as he passed, he made his way forward to Joker's station. John and Tali were both there, standing a little behind the cockpit. Outside, a ship was slowly growing in the viewport, and since nobody seemed to be worried about it, he figured this must have been something expected. "Okay, now that I'm not crippled for the moment, what's going on?" Shepard turned toward Anthony, smiling a little.

"Good to see you back on your feet. We're just meeting up with Tali's ride back to the Flotilla." Anthony blinked and looked over to the quarian, who was standing a little sheepishly off to the side of the cockpit.

"Really? Leaving us so soon?" Tali turned to face him and nodded softly. Her voice was quiet, even through the speaker on her helmet.

"W-well...by helping Shepard with the hunt for Saren...and thanks to the geth data from Feros...I believe that will be enough to complete my Pilgrimage. I've already been unofficially accepted by the captain of the Neema, one of the fleet's science ships." Anthony smiled and reached out, giving Tali a light hug.

"Hey, that's great news. Any ship should be proud to take you on as crew." Tali gently returned the hug, slowly pulling away as the ship gave a small jolt, signaling the docking with the quarian vessel. The inner door to the airlock slid open with a small hiss, the outer door remaining closed for the moment. Anthony sighed quietly. "Don't be a stranger, ok? I know you have my extranet address. Send us a holo of your new ship, yeah?" Tali nodded, and through the purple of her visor, Anthony could have sworn he saw what looked like a smile.

"I will." Tali pulled away and turned to Shepard. "Captain, crew member Tali'Zorah nar Rayya requesting permission to disembark." John nodded and stood at attention, Anthony following suit. Both humans saluted as John spoke.

"Permission granted, Tali'Zorah. Safe journey home to the fleet." Tali nodded and turned, walking into the airlock. Reaching the outer door, she turned to seal the door behind her. Before pressing the controls, she looked back at the two.

"Keelah Se'lai...my friends." With a nod from Shepard, and a smile from Anthony, Tali closed the airlock. After a few minutes, with extended decontamination protocols preventing contamination of the near-sterile quarian ship, the three humans in the cockpit looked up as the radio crackled to life.

_*Normandy, this is scout ship Cyniad. Tali'Zorah is on board. Releasing docking clamps.*_ Another small jolt went through the deck as the ship disconnected. Joker keyed up the radio as well. "Docking release confirmed, _Cyniad_. Smooth flying." Through the viewport, the ship came into view, moving away slowly. After a few moments, the ship's FTL drive kicked in and it became little more than a rapidly moving speck. Anthony sighed as he watched the ship leave.

"Keelah Se'lai, Tali." Shepard looked over to Anthony, reaching over and clapping the medic on the shoulder.

"Hey, come on, none of that on my bridge." Joker suddenly needing to clear his throat made John look over at the pilot. "Ok, none of that on _Joker's_ bridge." The pilot smirked and began entering commands into the helm. "How about we go and take care of some of those requests? Admiral Kahoku's boys are out here somewhere, and he just sent a message about their last known position. Checking a distress beacon somewhere in the Sparta system." Anthony nodded and smiled.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

* * *

><p>Anthony sighed as he sat back on his bunk. John was reporting back to Kahoku, having to give the admiral the bad news of his men being lured into a trap. Seeing a Thresher Maw for the first time was terrifying. Stunned stiff from the appearance of the giant worm, he was barely able to get himself together to fire the cannon on the Mako. Once the creature was down and the fake beacon deactivated, Shepard had began to chew him out for freezing. After a moment, he relented, realizing that most likely, nobody had even told him something like that even existed. Leaning back against the bulkhead, he pulled up his omni-tool, calling up the holo Tali had sent of the Neema. Liara's voice surprised him from the door.<p>

"You miss her, don't you?" Anthony looked up, shutting off the omni-tool. After a moment, he nodded.

"Yeah, a bit. She's a good friend, and hearing about the Migrant Fleet was definitely interesting." Liara smiled and nodded, moving in and sitting next to him.

"Well, I don't know if any of us will see her again. Quarians rarely leave the Flotilla once they return from Pilgrimage." Anthony nodded a little. "But that doesn't mean you can't keep in touch." Anthony smiled and stood, holding out his hand. When she took it and stood, Anthony pulled her into a light hug.

"I know, Liara. And thanks. I guess I just needed to be reminded." Liara returned the hug, smiling.

"You're very taken with her, aren't you?" Anthony thought for a moment, then nodded. Liara smiled. "I could tell. She's been talking about both you and Shepard for as long as I've been on board. Lately, though, it's been more you. I suppose since you would go down to engineering and talk with her so much." Anthony sighed, shaking his head.

"You couldn't have mentioned something? I mean, we do share a bunkroom. A note on the bulkhead or something?" Liara just smiled and walked over towards the door to the medbay.

"And take away the fun of watching you try to figure it out for yourself?" Liara opened the door, stopping before stepping out. "Somehow, I doubt today is the last time we'll see Tali. Call it a hunch." Stepping through, the door slid closed behind her. Anthony just sighed. Before he could get back to his thoughts, John's voice came across the ship's intercom.

_*Ground team, report to the briefing room. Admiral Kahoku would like to see everyone for the report.* _ Standing again, he made his way to the door, still trying to shake some thoughts from his head.

* * *

><p>AN: It may be a few days late, but Happy Turkey Day 2011, everyone! This chapter was a little late due to visiting some family for the holiday, and recovering from a minor tryptophan-induced coma. We are now officially in the gap between Mass Effect 1 and 2. Next chapter will be a little more of the in-between, as well as the beginning of Mass Effect 2. Until then, stay save, enjoy your time with family, and, as always, review and let me know what you think!


	18. Fall of a Giant

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XVIII

The Fall of a Giant

The past month had gone by a lot faster than the month before it. While the hunt for Saren and the Conduit seemed to drag on, working on random requests from some of the bigger movers and shakers on the Citadel kept just about everyone busy all at the same time. Also, the team had taken a few of the requests at the same time, Anthony, Ashley, and Garrus being one team, Liara, Wrex, and John the second.

John's team had followed up on all the leads with the missing marines. Personally, Anthony was glad he wasn't on that team. More thorian zombie-creatures, which the scientists experimenting on them had dubbed 'creepers', and more than a few rachni had greeted the teem before finding Admiral Kahoku's body. The scientists and guards had been a part of some pro-human extremest group called Cerberus. When everyone was back on the _Normandy_ after that revelation, Shepard made sure everyone read up on the little information Alliance Intelligence and C-Sec had on them.

Officially declared a terrorist organization by both the Alliance and the Council, very little was actually known about Cerberus. Apparently the leader of the group, known simply as 'The Illusive Man', had kept himself well out of the limelight, and any finances he had access to were well hidden within legitimate companies, making it extremely difficult for Marine and Spectre alike to get any information.

Shepard's half of the ground team also taken point on the request by crime boss Helena Blake. Taking out her 'partners' was quite a challenge, mostly because the locations given were merely a planet. Scanning the entire worlds had taken a few days each. Once found, however, the bases were quickly and effectively stormed, both teams working together to keep the gang members at bay. Once the two bases were cleared, their armories appropriated to supplement the _Normandy's_ cache of weapons, Blake herself was confronted. Refusing to give up her claim to her organization, another battle broke out.

After the smoke cleared, Anthony had to treat Ashley for a gun graze that had broken through her shields and found one of the few soft spots on her armor, at the shoulder joint. Blake was also injured, but not badly enough to need more than a quick application of medigel. Taken into custody, she was kept in a side store room that was quickly converted into a makeshift brig. On their way to where the Nassana Dantius' sister was being held, they managed to meet up with a turian patrol ship on it's way back to the Citadel.

That was a whole other mess. Nassana's sister turned out to be the head of the pirate gang, and was the true blackmailer. She had gotten one of Shepard's death-glares when they had gotten back to the Citadel. Apparently, even the haughty asari were not immune to corruption. Nassana had sworn to file protests even as she was being led away by C-Sec for not immediately reporting the attempted blackmail. No-one doubted, however, that she would soon be out, but her status as a diplomat was tarnished beyond recovery.

Compared to the rest, the trouble on Luna had been fairly simple. A VI had gone rogue and was tearing the base apart with the security mechs. Thanks to some hacking basics he had taken the time to learn from Garrus, Tali, and Kaiden, Anthony's omni-tool was put to good use. He and Garrus had connected their omni-tools, using the combined power to jam some of the signals to the mechs, turning them against the others, as Ashley kept them covered. After he had been discharged back in his time, Anthony had taken to a little bit of computer hacking as a side hobby. The ideas were similar, but the whole process was very different. Garrus had done most of the work, but Anthony was sure he would get better with time.

Now that the VI had been taken off line, permanently, and the report given to Admiral Hackett via secure FTL comms, The _Normandy_ was once again headed toward the fringes of Citadel space. Several ships had disappeared, and the Council had feared more geth attacks. The ship's stealth systems gave it unique capabilities, since the ships disappearances were mostly reported on the edge of the Terminus Systems, a lawless loose group of star clusters lorded over by criminals and gangs. Even with the Reaper threat, the Council was still threatened by the possibility of all-out war with the Terminus Systems. And so, here they were, sneaking around, looking for signs of geth acti-

_*BRACE FOR EVASIVE ACTION!*_

Joker's voice came across the comm, interrupting Anthony's thoughts as he stood at the weapons table in the cargo bay. Hard maneuvering overcame the mass effect fields acting as inertial compensators, throwing objects on the table, as well as most of the crew, to the deck. A shudder ran through the deck before the doors to the engineering compartment exploded outwards in a sudden burst of flame, before immediately sucking backwards through a hull breach. The cargo bay was kept from being completely turned into vaccum by the barrier fields on the hallway, but just barely.

Anthony pulled himself to his feet. He may not have been official military any more, but this was still his home, and his crewmates. Wrex and Garrus pulled themselves to their feet as well, looking around at the now shuddering lighting in the bay. Emergency lighting came on, and the three gorund team members began herding crew to the elevator to the upper decks, Anthony's voice carrying over the banging and groaning metal. "Everyone into the elevator! Drop it all or you get left behind!"

The elevator's door slowly slid shut, the motors groaning against what were now slightly twisted rails, of the shaft. Another shake went through the ship, a flash of flame coming through an upper vent. As the elevator door opened, everyone piled out. Joker's voice was coming across the comm as he broadcast a distress call. Thick smoke was beginning to fill the corridors, emergency lighting flashing and illuminating the path to the escape pods. A warning klaxon sounded, signaling for everyone to abandon ship.

Ashley, Liara, and Shepard came around the corner from the direction of the mess hall. Shepard looked at everyone, then back to Anthony, Wrex, And Garrus. Even through the speaker on his helmet, which was now fully hard-sealed against vacuum, his voice sounded strained. "Where's the rest?" Anthony shook his head, having to shout to be heard over the chaos.

"Sir, Engineering was the first hit down there! Barriers held just long enough for us to get to the elevator!" Shepard cursed and punched the bulkhead. After a moment, he looked up at each of them.

"Alright, all of you, escape pods, now! I've got to go get Joker!" Ashley grabbed John's wrist, pulling him to look at her.

"Skipper..." Shepard reached up and grabbed Ashley's hand.

"Ash...go. The cockpit escape pod holds up to five. We'll be fine." He pulled her into a hug, which both held for a moment. Then John pulled away, heading for the stairs. Turning, he saw her still standing there, watching him. "Get them off this ship, Chief! That's an order!" As he turned the corner and disappeared on the steps, Ashley turned.

"You heard the man! Move it!" Following the hallways to the side of the ship where the escape pods were kept, they were all caught for a moment in their tracks, sudden decompression pulling everyone not in armor a few paces backwards. It ended just as suddenly as it started, however. Ashley looked back towards the stairs. "Shit...the CIC must have a hull breach. Come on, everyone in! Move!"

As they approached the pods, they saw that several had already been launched. Two more open pod doors were all that was left on that side of the ship. As everyone pulled themselves into the small pod and strapped themselves in, or as well as they could, in Wrex's case, Ashley turned at the sound of boots on the deck. Looking out of the pod, Anthony watched as a figure came into view around the corner for only a split second before another explosion rocked the ship. A fireball exploded out of the conduit on the bulkhead in front of the figure, the force sending it into the opposite wall far too hard to be survivable. The figure limply fell to the floor, facing the pod.

Anthony had just enough time to recognize one of Helen's assistants, Talitha Draven, her eyes now forever locked open in surprise, before Ashley stepped in and slammed her hand on the controls. The hatch slid closed and waited only long enough for Ashley to get into her own harness before sudden acceleration came over all of them, the pod rocketing away from the crippled _Normandy._

Through the windows on the escape pod, everyone watched in morbid fascination as they first were able to lay eyes on their attackers. The ship was huge, at least the size of a cruiser, possibly a dreadnaught. It almost looked organic from the outside, as if made of rock or even dirt. The silence was thick in the pod as a point of yellow light slowly grew in intensity at what appeared to be the front of the ship. Suddenly, a bright beam of energy lanced out from the point, striking the ship. It seemed to pause for only a moment before emerging out the opposite side of the _Normandy. _

From the outside, it was more apparent just how bad the damage was. One wing was missing. The belly of the ship had been nearly gutted, wisps of flame shooting out into the void, showing where some of the internal fires still burned. A large field of twisted metal surrounding a now dimly glowing blue light showed what was left of the _Normandy's _massive eezo drive core. With her heart ripped out, all in the pod knew she was dead. The bright light began to glow again at the front of the alien ship. The beam reached out once more, striking just aft of the airlock. Ashley pulled at her harness. As the pod finally stopped it's escape burn, her harness clicked and finally gave way to the force she was putting on it. Going to the hatch, she stared through it, pulling her helmet off, letting it clatter to the floor.

"Come on...get out of there..." A moment later, a massive explosion rocked the ship, splitting her in half. Both halves seemed to just...float there for a moment, as if suspended by wires. Then there was another flash as what was left of the _Normandy_ tore itself apart. Out of the ball of flame that engulfed the fore section, another streak of light emerged, the cockpit escape pod rocketing away from the wreck. Parts of it were now slowly glowing as they fell into the atmosphere of the nearby planet, some parts still loosely drifting in space. Ashley reached up and keyed in the escape pod's comm system, connecting with the cockpit pod. "Dammit, John...I swear to God, if you ever-"

"Ash...?" Joker's voice sounded pained through the speaker. Ashley immediately grew alarmed.

"Joker? What's wrong with John? Is he hurt?" When no answer came, Ashley nearly turned her head to face the speaker. "Joker? What happened!" After another few seconds, Joker's voice came across the speaker. If not for the pod being absolutely silent, Anthony doubted if anyone would have heard the two soft words. But once he did, he wished he hadn't.

"...man down."

Now the silence was deafening in the pod. It almost seemed like nobody even breathed. Ashley turned from the speaker to look out the window again, at what was left of the ship they had called home for the past two months. Anthony stared out past her as well. Soft sobs began to echo in the pod. Liara slowly stood from her seat, moving over to Ashley, who slumped down onto the floor, her eyes still locked out the window. Liara sat on the deck beside her. She simply put a hand on her shoulder.

It would be three hours later before a rescue ship finally arrived. Docking to the pod, the hatch opened. A pair of marines came into the pod. They must have had similar medical training to Anthony because, in the back of his mind, he recognized some of the questions being asked to them as ones to victims to assess for shock. Slowly, they were all led out of the pod and onto their rescue vessel. But none of them talked when asked questions. Ashley was still sobbing, but the tears no longer fell. But none of it mattered anymore.

Lieutenant Commander John Shepard, Captain of the _Normandy_, and the first human Spectre...was dead.

* * *

><p>The next week passed like a blur to most of the ground team. Interrogations by Aliance Brass and C-Sec, even a direct meeting with the Council to discuss the events. A small memorial service for the crew was held on the Presidium, even though it was still not fully repaired. The few reporters that had found out about the service were held back by C-Sec, giving the crew their privacy. An Alliance flag, folded into a tight triangle, was presented to Captain Hannah Shepard. The woman held her composure, but just barely, her lips tight as she remained stoic. She was the only one to sit with the rest of the ground team, and Anthony could see the tears in the woman's eyes she was holding back.<p>

Missing from the service, however, were Liara and Wrex. Wrex hadn't surprised them, as he simply had said something about Shepard going down fighting, the way he would have wanted to. No point in mourning a honorable death in battle. Two days before the service, Wrex left on a ship bound for Tuchanka, the krogan homeworld. Liara, however, was another had seen her that morning, and she didn't show up throughout the memorial.

As the service ended, and the Council made their way back to the Tower, those gathered began to slowly disperse. They were mostly crew of the _Normandy_, as well as a few of John's instructors from the N7 academy. Even Tali had managed to get leave from her Captain to attend. She introduced herself as Tali'Zorah vas Neema, now, to anyone that didn't know her. Some of the crew came to Hannah, saluting her in respect. Hannah simply nodded to each that did so, clutching the flag to her chest.

There was a few awkward moments as the four ground team members, Joker, Dr. Chakwas, and Hannah were the only ones left. Looking up, Anthony sighed as he spoke. "Hey...the plan was to all get a drink once this was over. I don't think John would have wanted us to miss that...even if he wasn't here." Silence met the suggestion before a chuckle sounded from Garrus.

"You know...you're right. Shepard owed us all a few drinks. How about we go and drink them for him? I know a bar a little out of the way of all the tourists. Plus, they don't play music that nearly tears your eardrums." Anthony nodded and smiled a bit.

"Then lead the way, Garrus." The turian nodded and started off towards the path to the wards. The group followed close, a few C-Sec officers still following after them a bit behind, making sure the group wasn't mobbed by reporters. Nobody walked particularly fast, letting Joker keep up on his crutches.

The trip to the wards was much faster than any of them remembered, and before long, the quiet talking and clinking glasses of a local hole-in-the-wall dive bar. Making their way to an open table big enough to hold them all, everyone sat as Anthony and Garrus made their way to the bar to order for everyone. A few bottles of beer for everyone to nurse for the night, and shots for everyone to toast with. He was happy to see that his personal favorite, Jagermeister, was still around this far in the future, and apparently it was one of the few drinks safe for both dextro- and levo-protien based species. He was even able to find a shot in a sterilized tube for Tali.

Bringing the drinks back to the table for everyone, Anthony passed around the shots while Garrus passed around the beer. Once everyone had their drinks, Anthony raised his shot glass. "To John. The best CO I think any of us have ever had. And a man I looked up to like a brother." Shot glasses and a plastic tube were raised all around the table for a moment before everyone downed their drinks. Sitting and smiling a bit at the looks around the table, Anthony picked up his beer. Once Garrus stopped coughing from the intense taste, he looked over to Anthony.

"Alright...I'd say that's the last time we let you pick the drinks, pal." For the first time in days, everyone shared a bit of a chuckle.

* * *

><p>Anthony walked out of the bar with the rest of the group. Hugs and handshakes were exchanged around the group before everyone started heading off in different directions. Garrus broke off first, heading towards the wards and his apartment, still held by his C-Sec pay. Then Hannah and Tali, heading toward the docks. Ashley, Helen, and Joker started off towards the apartments that had been secured for them until they could be reassigned. Anthony sighed as he just walked around the Presidium.<p>

A few keepers were scurrying around, still seeming to make repairs to the walkways. The artificial sky above had been dimmed, simulating a night cycle. After wandering for a time, he found himself standing near the Conduit, now standing silent, waiting for it's twin on Ilos to be used again. Anthony walked up to the rail, ignoring the Avina terminal nearby, simply looking up at the Prothean-created mass relay. A voice behind him made him jump. "Even knowing it's purpose...it is still beautiful, isn't it?"

As he turned, he saw an asari approaching him. Nodding, he looked back to the relay. "Yes, it is. A tribute to the dedication the Protheans had to stop the Reapers." She nodded as she walked closer, standing beside him. "I assume you were here on the Presidium when the attack came?" She smiled, nodding softly.

"Yes, I was. Myself and my assistants locked ourselves into my chambers. Thankfully, the geth came nowhere near it." She turned to face Anthony, now. "Forgive me, Mr. Snyder. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Sha'ira, the Consort." Anthony looked up, surprised.

"Please, it's alright. No apology necessary. I would ask how you know me, but I've seen some of the news on the extranet. Profiles on everyone from the _Normandy_ are one of the top subjects." Anthony pushed himself off from the railing. "If I may ask, what are you doing out here so late?" Sha'ira smiled and looked around.

"I usually take walks in the night. It is much quieter and peaceful, and, as you can see, there's hardly a soul out here, aside from the keepers." Anthony nods as he looks around. "With my profession, it's a welcome change to be able to come out and not be noticed by many. I was surprised I was not approached today at the memorial. But I gather that was because C-Sec kept most people at bay."

Anthony nodded and sighed. Looking up, he asked. "Why were you there? I know John was probably the most well-known human in Citadel space, but..." Sha'ira just smiled and shook her head.

"It's very simple, actually. A few weeks ago, Shepard came to see me. None of your crew was with him, so I assume it was during some shore leave. He helped me with an issue I had, and I gave him a parting gift of words as thanks." Anthony raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. The Consort continued, "But now...with him gone, it seems that my gift of words was ill-given. I am not usually incorrect with these things. It gives me pause." Anthony nodded and looked back towards the Conduit.

"If you were wrong this once...how much else have you been wrong about?" Sha'ira nodded, her gaze following his.

"Exactly. Perhaps I have exhausted my gift. I told Shepard he was destined for greatness. And now, that greatness will never happen." Anthony shook his head.

"John did something great. He stopped Sovereign and Saren. He had help on the way, sure...but I don't think it would have happened if it wasn't him leading us." Anthony turned to Sha'ira, smiling. "And I'm sure that a lot of good will still be done in his name. So I don't think you were that wrong. Who says someone needs to be living for something to be done in their honor?" Sha'ira thought for a moment and nods slightly.

"Perhaps...I need to think on this. Examine myself." Facing Anthony and bowing her head slightly to him, she smiled. "This is a welcome change, Mr. Snyder. You have given _me_ a gift of words...and much to think on. Thank you." Anthony just smiled and returned the slight bow.

"Consort, you honor me more than I deserve. But you are most welcome." Nodding her head, Sha'ira began to walk off, heading back towards her chambers. A slight orange glow caught the edge of his vision, his omni-tool lighting up. When he raised it, he saw an incoming video call from Liara. Sighing and accepting the connection, he looked down at the small image of the asari doctor. "Liara, where have you been? John's service was to-" Liara cut him off.

"Anthony, I know it was today. But I had to find out for sure. I contacted the Shadow Broker." Anthony blinked in surprise, but barely had a chance to before Liara spoke again. Her voice was quick, and Anthony knew she had big news. "I wanted to find Shepard's body...to help give us all, and his mother, some closure on the issue. The Broker said he had someone that knew something about it. Rumors that Shepard might even be alive! I've set up a meeting for the two of us in a few days." Anthony tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Wait a second...replay. You talked to the Shadow Broker to try and find John's body...and he gave you info about someone that might know where he is?" At Liara's nod, Anthony sighed. "Alright...and why are you coming to me with this?" Liara grinned.

"Well, you're not military anymore, and I don't think you've found a job yet, right?" Anthony sighed and looked around a bit. She was right. Everyone else still had something left. Garrus was going back to C-Sec. Ashley and Hannah still had their commissions with the Alliance, as did Joker and Helen. And Tali was, by now, already on her way back to the Migrant fleet. Looking down at the screen again, he nodded.

"Alright, you got me. So when do we leave and where are we going?" Liara smiled.

"I've booked transport for us, as well. It's a freighter, so it won't be the best way to go. Now...have you ever heard of a place called Omega?"

* * *

><p>AN: And another chapter down! Unfortunately, though, I'm going to have to break my every-other week updating schedule. After having nothing since May, I've finally gotten a job again. Since my schedule is more or less up in the air, I can't guarantee how often I can get time to put together my thoughts and get them down. So unfortunately, everyone, I'm going to have to just drop down to as often as I can. But I'll try to keep things up as much as I can. Okay, now that that's done, it's up to another story poll. I have two choices for something coming up later, but I don't want to give anything away. So it'll just be a pair of random words. Pick the one you like. The poll will stay up until Shepard is back on the _Normandy_, where he belongs. Thanks for sticking around this long, and, as always, review! I thrive on them! And as of the date of this posting, Mass Effect 3 lands in 87 days! Whoo!


	19. An Unexpected Ally

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift  
>Chapter XIX<br>An Unexpected Ally

The trip aboard the ship had been horrible, both for Anthony and Liara. Cramped quarters left limbs tingling on waking, the ship itself smelled of something unidentifiable, and the crew weren't exactly the friendliest group in the Galaxy. Once they tried to kill Anthony and take extra 'payment' from Liara for the trip, the two travelers decided to put their collective foot down. It just happened to be on the batarian and two turian's throats. Once on Omega, however, things just went even more downhill.

Asking around the few information brokers on Omega gave not a single hint as to the source of the rumor, as well as giving them some very odd looks from a few of the other patrons, mostly because someone was asking about the late 'Hero of the Alliance' in the dingy bars of Omega. Finding an out of the way booth, the two sat, nursing a pair of batarian ales. Anthony took a drink from his glass, setting it down with a sigh."Well...I guess this is what we get, huh?" Liara looked up to Anthony with a questioning look, which brought a small, sad chuckle from his lips. "For wanting to believe the rumor..." Liara thought for a moment, taking a sip from her own glass.

"I don't think so. Mother looked into this as well, and her contacts are quite extensive. They began hearing rumors, too. That someone here on this station had found John. Getting it from the Shadow Broker as well just confirms it." She set down her glass and stood once more. "The one thing the Broker does is information. What point would it be if what you got out of the deal isn't good intel?" Anthony nodded and sat back in his seat, thinking.

"But if the information IS good...why doesn't anyone around here know anything about it?" Liara thought for a second, before a slightly rough voice in the booth next to them interrupted her thoughts.

"Because they know better than to get involved with the Broker. And so should you. Going around, asking everyone about Commander Shepard...you two have any idea of the word 'subtle'?" Anthony turned in his seat to look at the speaker, Liara taking a step over.

"Oh? And what would you know about this?" The speaker chuckled and stood. It was obviously a male, but he wore a heavy cloak, hood pulled up, casting his face in shadow. However, just enough was visible for Liara to realize something. "Wait...you! You're the one I spoke to! The Sh-" Suddenly stepping close and covering Liara's lips with a hand, he cut her off. In the shifting light of the bar, neither could see him very well, not even with how close Liara was. The figure motioned them aside, towards the back door to the place.

"Not here. You want to talk, we go somewhere else. Too many people. Too many ears." Anthony and Liara followed the cloaked man, but both kept their guard up. Anthony kept his hand on the small hold-out sidearm he hid in his pocket, and he could feel the slight tingle in the air of biotics from Liara. Apparently, the man had felt it, too. He turned once they were out of sight, facing the two as he lowered his hood. His features were slightly reptilian, his dark eyes almost like voids of color. "You don't need to do that, Dr. T'Soni. I mean you no harm." Liara looked at the alien for a moment, then Anthony slowly felt the tingle subside. The man nodded in approval, looking around at their surroundings. "Good. Now that we're not being followed anymore..." Anthony looked up, his eyes searching around as well.

"We made that much of an impression, huh?" The man nodded, leaning back against a support girder.

"You could say that. My name is Feron. And yes, I'm an agent for the Shadow Broker. The information I sold you IS good. I do know where your Commander Shepard is, but you won't like what I have to say." Liara's face fell for a moment.

"Dead?" Feron nodded solemnly.

"If not dead, than certainly not alive, at least. His body was recovered...or at least, what was left. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you two came a long way for nothing." Liara shook her head, hr hands gripping into tight fists.

"I...I need to see, Feron. I need to see John for myself." Anthony nodded his agreement, only causing Feron to look a little more uneasy.

"You know, you two aren't the only ones here on Omega set on finding him. I would suggest you just let the dead rest." Anthony stepped forward, giving a hard stare.

"Maybe it didn't translate right. That man was as close to a brother to me as anyone could get, and he was a friend to BOTH of us. We need to see Shepard." Feron smirked and pulled his hood back up, once again casting his face into shadow.

"Alright. It's your money, your life. But just know, this isn't the Citadel, with those transit cabs running everywhere. We're all going to be doing a lot of walking." Both Anthony and Liara nodded, about to answer, but being cut off by several men in blue armor coming out of the shadows around them, two grabbing Liara by the arms, one putting Anthony into a headlock. The two others that went after Feron were unable to catch the drell, however, his movements graceful as he evaded the two mercenaries.

"Let go of me you bastards!" Liara nearly growled the words out as her entire body gained the telltale blue glow of biotics. Anthony felt a pressure wave lightly hit him as he felt Liara use her biotics to throw the two holding her at least two meters to either side. A small orb of biotic energy came to life in her hand, and she was only a moment from throwing it at the man holding Anthony before she felt the cool metal of a gun pressed against the back of her head.

"Easy with the biotics, asari...or I'll add a few new permanent wrinkles to your skull." A krogan had also joined the fray, his weapon pressed firmly against one of Liara's head-fringes. Slowly, the blue glow in her hands died out, the krogan giving a small chuckle. "Good. Now, you came all the way out here, looking for a dead man." The krogan stepped forward, lowering his weapon as both Anthony and Feron slowly stopped struggling against the others. "The Shadow Broker wants to know wh-"

Suddenly, a muffled pop sounded from the distance, the krogan's head nearly exploding in a small spray of blood and gore. The one holding Anthony threw him to the side to get access to his own weapon, barely getting out a yell of "Sniper!" before another pop sounded, a small crater opening up in the front and back of his armor chestplate, sending the man to the ground. The merc holding Feron suddenly doubled over as the drell drove his elbow into the mans gut, loosening his grip. Anthony reached down, grabbing his pistol from where he dropped it, scanning the area quickly. The only place he could see that had such a good vantage point appeared to be a balcony of pipes about a hundred meters away. Putting himself in the sniper's position for a moment, he looked around just as quickly for somewhere out of the line of fire. Spotting a small side-alley, he made a dash for it, calling out to Liara and Feron. "This way! Cover!" His words were almost unnecessary, as both had seen him moving towards the alley's opening, and had started to follow suit.

Once inside the alley, however, Anthony's steps came to an abrupt halt, Feron and Liara nearly crashing into him from behind. In front of them, on both sides, and now even closing in behind the three, completely surrounding them, were at least a dozen armed men, but these were no common mercs. Their armor, stance, and weapons spoke of a well-funded army rather than a simple group of killers-for-hire. Liara's voice was quiet, but in the sudden stillness, it almost sounded as if she were yelling. "Perhaps not the right way..." From behind the soldiers at the far end from the entrance, there was the sound of a chuckle, obviously female, and the distinct clack of high-heels, of all things, on the metal decking, walking steadily closer.

"No need to worry, Dr. T'soni. We're all working toward the same goal. Finding Commander Shepard." Anthony recognized the woman's accent as what would have been called Australian in his time, but couldn't for the life of him remember what that particular part of Earth had become in the years since. Unlike the soldiers around her, this woman seemed less at home in the field and more comfortable in an office somewhere. Rather than the powered armor suits of the rest, she wore an extremely tight one-piece suit, which seemed to be more painted on than actually worn.

Anthony looked up to the woman with a bit of disbelief on his face, a combination of her words and what she was wearing, 'in a combat area, no less!'. "Lady, haven't you heard? Commander Shepard...is dead." A knowing smirk answered.

"And yet, here you are, looking for him. We both know Shepard has beaten the odds before." The woman stepped forward, into the circle of guards. At a motion, those not nearest the alley eased their weapons down. "My name is Miranda. I represent someone who would like very much to meet you two. Work with us, and we might just find a way to get Commander Shepard back." Liara took a half step forward, staring at Miranda hard.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Miranda smirked and turned, starting to walk off further into the alley, speaking over her shoulder.

"Come with me and you'll find out. You can even bring the drell." Looking over her shoulder as she walked, Miranda looked at the two crewmates. "We're not being picky, today." Looking around at the guards still surrounding them, Anthony sighed, then slowly started following Miranda.

"Looks like we don't have much choice, do we?" Liara shook her head, helping Feron off the ground, then starting to walk alongside Anthony. Feron hesitated for another moment, then began walking as well, falling into step behind the two friends. Liara looked over to Anthony, her voice low.

"Any idea who these people are? And what they may want?" Anthony nodded, looking over to one of the guards, motioning with a tilt of his head.

"See the emblem on the shoulder?" Liara looked a little closer. The emblem was a gold hexagon, a little longer in the middle, flanked by two black stripes. Nodding, Anthony continued. "I remember seeing it on a brief after one of those missions you, Wrex, and John went on. Kahoku's boys?" Liara's eyes widened in realization.

"Cerberus? These people work for those monsters?" Anthony nodded, looking forward again as they neared an aircar. Miranda opened the door and climbed into the driver's seat. Looking back to them, she flashed a winning smile.

"I will admit, there have been some...issues in the past we have had, with certain elements of our organization breaking off and pursuing their own interests. But had your team not intervened, we would have done the same thing." Starting up the aircar, a low whine from the engines echoed slightly around the area. "In fact, we had already dispatched a team to deal with those issues. Not everything is always as straightforward as it seems. Wouldn't you say so, Mr. Snyder?" Anthony looked over to Miranda curiously. She simply laughed. "Oh, don't play ignorant. Did you really think Hackett and Anderson could cover up ALL of your past history?" The way she said it made it very clear exactly what she was talking about. "Needless to say, my employer is very interested in you, as well. Please, get in, all of you. I swear that we mean no harm. My employer simply wishes to give you both a business proposition."

Anthony looked at the aircar, then back to Liara. The asari shrugged for a moment, echoing his words from earlier. "No choice, right?" Nodding, Anthony stepped into the aircar, sitting beside Miranda. Liara and Feron climbed into the back, the doors closing around them. The aircar slowly rose from the platform and, after a moment, sped off into the Omega airspace, diving deeper into what was left of the asteroid.

* * *

><p>Anthony and Liara looked around the small room they had been ushered into. It was little more than a metal box, a large circle on the floor, slightly raised from the rest of the deck. The door closed, plunging the room into darkness. A moment later, a glowing ring begain rising from the floor, surrounding both of them.<p>

As the holographic net slowly rose, it scanned them both. Suddenly, as it passed their eyes, the two found themselves in another room. The image flickered only briefly, exposing itself as a hologram, before the scanner completely finished with them. After that, it was a nearly seamless image of the other room, and it's single occupant, facing away from them in a chair, looking out to the dim star the station was apparently orbiting around.

The man slowly turned in his chair to face them. A puff on a cigarette illuminated his face for a moment, but his eyes remained lit, glowing a soft blue, as if from within, revealing the implants he must have had. His voice was both smooth and rough at the same time, revealing what must have been many years of his smoking habit.

"Welcome, Mr. Snyder, Dr. T'soni. You may call me The Illusive Man."

* * *

><p>AN: Hello, eveyone. A bit of a short chapter, but I felt like I had to give you all something, if only to say I'm still here and alive and I havn't abandoned this story. The past few months have been very tough for me. Not long after I posted chapter 18, my mother lost her 13+year battle with heart disease. Between making the arrangements, trying to manage her estate, selling the house, moving, getting settled in to the new place, and add to that my new schedule at work, the time I was able to dedicate to writing ANYTHING went down to almost nothing. Now that things have settled down a bit, though, ?I have finally been able to get myself back onto track, and I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Personally, I don't really like making a chapter an author's note, because then everyone sees 'new chapter', gets all excited, and then, oh, wait, no, it's just a note from the author. So, you get a bit of a longer note at the end of the chapter explaining myself. Anyway, thanks for sticking around with me. You have no idea what it means to me as a writer, and as a companion on this journey through the Mass Effect universe. Until next time.<p> 


	20. Bait and Switch

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift  
>Chapter XX<br>Bait and Switch

Anthony sighed quietly as he sat on the small ship that belonged to their new drell friend, headed with Feron and Liara towards the planet Alingon. Thanks to a tip from Cerberus, the trio had found their way to Aria T`loak, the asari that some people called "Queen of Omega." The Shadow Broker making an exchange on Omega didn't bother her. In fact, it happened quite often, according to her. However, Aria didn't know that the Broker was dealing on 'her' station with the Collectors, a strange, reclusive race of aliens from beyond the nearby Omega-4 relay. The Illusive Man was right to suggest that she be made aware of that, since it almost immediately gained the three the information they were looking for, albeit through teeth clenched in anger.

John's remains were on the station, and the transfer to the Collectors was to take place in one of the lower docking bays. Nearly sealed from the rest of the station, the only clear way into them was from outside, through the mass effect field that separated breathable atmosphere from hard vacuum. This particular bay, however, happened to have an old defense cannon in it, and the power from the station's massive power plant had to get there somehow, and with power conduit, there always came maintenance tunnels.

Once in the bay, they saw it. A stasis chamber to prevent further deterioration, but inside was barely visible, only through a small window. The little they could see, however, left no doubt anymore. What was left nearly made Liara sick. Even Anthony's medical training and experience didn't completely numb him from the sight. What little flesh was visible was burned and scarred, almost charcoal. A set of dog tags hanging off the lid of the chamber were the only clue to the occupant, and even from the distance, the familiar splash of N7 red was obvious.

That was John, all right.

Liara nearly had thrown biotics around at the mercs, but Anthony and Feron managed to calm her, but just barely. However, when another ship came into view, Feron nearly ran at the sight of it. A salarian stepped out, nearly half a meter taller than most of his race. Feron said his name was Tazzik, and that he was the Shadow Broker's go-to guy, for things he wanted results guaranteed. A quickly hatched plan later, and the old defense cannon was slowly coming to bear on Tazzik's ship.

Unfortunately, the plan blew up in their faces, literally, when the old gun protested being fired very violently. Something had jammed the barrel, and the back of the gun exploded, knocking the three back. Luckily, Anthony had taken to the skills he picked up from Tali during a hacking crash course she had given him from the Flotilla via the Extranet on the way over to Omega, hacking the gun from a distance. When they managed to gather themselves together again, though, looking back into the bay found it empty, with no trace of the ships, or John's body.

It had been an interesting conversation with Feron afterwards, both accusing him of still working for the Broker. Feron revealed that he was really a double-agent for Cerberus. Back in the hologram room with The Illusive Man, Feron used his access to the Shadow Broker's network to allow Cerberus techs to crack in, finding the point of origin for his recent transmissions to Omega. That brought them on Feron's small ship, headed toward a planet that almost every advisory that Anthony could find strongly advised against. Standing, he groaned slightly as the stiffness the enviro-suit he was wearing protested against the movement. 'How the hell does Tali and her people deal with these things? And I'm not even sealed in, yet!'

"That suit is as close as I can get to one of the Broker's quarian agents. It should fool the guards." Feron called over his shoulder as he continued to pilot them closer to the Shadow Broker's base. Anthony nodded and grabbed the visor for it, clicking it into place. The entire world around him was muted, now, coming in to him as a odd mix of sounds through the suits audio, as well as readouts now projected on the inside of the grey tinted visor. "No one should even notice your eyes." Anthony thought for a moment, then nodded in realization.

"Their bio-luminescence." Feron nodded, turning back to his piloting. Anthony stood and walked back into the small passenger cabin. Liara looked up from the datapad she was reading, smiling as she looked him over.

"Not bad. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we picked up a quarian back on Omega." Anthony smiled, not that she could see it, and nodded. Deciding to try something, he threw a bit of an accent into his voice, giving a small flourish and bow as he did.

"Tobin`Redyn nar Normandy, at your service, Dr. T'Soni." Liara laughed lightly at his antics, standing and giving him a once over.

"Oh? 'Tobin`Redyn'? Where did you ever come up with that name?" Anthony shrugged and smiled.

"Well, Tobin was the name of a character in a movie I remember seeing before my trip, and Redyn is 'Snyder' backwards, but without the 's'. It just didn't sound right to me." Liara smiled and nodded as she faced him again.

"I have to say, I'm impressed. You even sound quarian. How did you figure out how to do that so fast?" Anthony shook his head, realizing he had to make some of his normal facial expressions into body movements. Dropping the accent, he spoke normally again.

"From what I remember Tali sounding like, it was very similar to old Earth Russian. I used to watch a lot of old Cold War movies when I was younger. Picking up a Russian accent is easy when you've watched The Hunt for Red October about a thousand times." Liara nodded and looked down to the small table next to her, and the rigged handcuffs that rested on it. Anthony reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder, his three-fingered glove still taking some getting used to. "Feron and me will be right next to you the whole time. We'll be armed, and there's nothing in the galaxy I've read about that can block asari biotics. It's going to work, Liara."

Liara gave a small nod and picked up the cuffs. The two walked forward to the cockpit, Liara putting the cuffs on, keeping her wrists in front of her. Feron looked over his shoulder and nodded as he brought the ship down toward a small building. "Okay, you two. Let's go pay a visit to the Shadow Broker."

* * *

><p>"I'm waiting for an answer, Feron. Since when do you think you can come here uninvited?"<p>

Liara scowled at the figure at the center of the room, the dazzling lights around it making it hard to see any detail. "Since you started working for the collectors, Broker. That simple enough for you?" The Broker remained unmoving, but the slight sound of amusement crept into his voice, detectable even through the external speaker on what Anthony figured must be a helmet.

"Scruples? Interesting. I see sending the Blue Suns after the three of you was a wise precaution. You're supposed to be a businessman, Feron. To use a term from Mr. Snyder's time, their offer was one I couldn't refuse." Anthony's eyes widened behind the visor of his disguise. 'Come on, does EVERYBODY know?'

Liara clenched her fists tightly, the blue-white aura of biotics surrounding her arms. Feron touched Liara on the shoulder gently, drawing her attention for a moment. He whispered something Anthony couldn't hear, and she nodded briefly. Feron then moved over to one of the consoles, hooking in a small data thief and typing away furiously. All the while, the Broker continued.

"A storm is coming, from what the collectors say. And from what my considerable resources have told me, they are right. Retrieving the body of your friend for them is a small price to pay. Knowing that I'm edging out Cerberus for whatever they want the remains for is a little of the icing on the cake, so to speak." Anthony had to hold Liara back, now, trying to keep her from outright destroying the Broker. He looked back to Feron, who simply looked up from the console, mouthed the words 'not yet', and returned to his hacking. Liara was still raging, however, and Anthony was having trouble keeping her from advancing towards the platform in the center of the room.

"Well, I'm not letting you give it to them! I'm not doing this for Cerberus. I'm not doing this for anyone but myself! I won't let you give him to the collectors..." Liara had finally gotten close enough that the lights illuminating the figure now only highlighted what it was: a robotic humanoid figure, the legs simply clever shadows hiding the pole that the torso was mounted on.

"And how would you stop me, Dr. T`Soni? As you can see, you can't even touch me." One robotic arm came up and gestured to the door. "On this base are most of my top operatives. At a single order from me, they would be in here in mere moments. The three of you have your talents, yes, but I doubt you could fight your way out of here."

"I've got it! Liara, let loose!" Feron's voice had cut through the anger clouding Liara's mind, it seemed, because Anthony was suddenly pushed back by a biotic wave. As he looked up from the floor, he was just in time to watch Liara let out an animalistic scream, both hands blazing with biotic energy as they pushed forward against the robotic chest. The sound of rending metal and sparking wires was mixed with the dull thrum of the dark energy manifesting as the stand-in torso was flung across the room. Anthony scrambled to his feet and ducked for cover behind the console with Feron, who paused for only a moment to withdraw the OSD with the data. His hand barely made it back into cover before another biotic wave, this one much brighter, washed over the terminal.

Sparks flew around the room as Liara unleashed her anger and fury, destroying much of the data equipment, plunging the room into darkness for a moment before some emergency lighting, somehow spared, came on. Both Anthony and Feron peeked over the destroyed console, seeing Liara standing there, her arms outstretched, trying to catch her breath. Both men stood and surveyed the totaled room. Liara slowly dropped her arms and turned, slowly walking towards them. Her voice was deceptively calm. "Did you find him?" Feron nodded and plugged the OSD into his omni-tool, pulling up the data.

"I did. He's actually here, on Alingon. The deal hasn't been finished yet, so we still have time. But you just took down the Broker's whole network on this planet. The guards are sure to check in on this room to see what's up." Liara just grinned, and Anthony shuddered a little from the sight, even knowing that look wasn't directed at him.

"Let them come."

* * *

><p>The battle with the collector and the Shadow Broker's guards had been brutal. Had Anthony actually been a quarian, he was sure he would have been dead by now from the sheer amount of suit punctures that he had taken. Luckily, whatever had penetrated had either missed enough to give nothing more than minor flesh wounds, or had gone clean through, which medi-gel took care of quickly. Liara had gotten out with similar minor wounds.<p>

Feron wasn't so lucky.

Even as the two escaped in Tazzik's ship, both felt a pang of guilt from not being able to hold out long enough for him to get on board. He had screamed at them to leave, even while he was fighting hand-to-hand with Tazzik, having already jammed the hangar doors, delaying the rest of the mercs on the base from bearing down on them.

Now, both sat in a medical bay on another Cerberus station, their wounds being tended to. In the next bay over, a team of scientists and doctors were crowded around the stasis chamber, arguing and comparing notes. Once their wounds were bandaged and healed, Miranda stepped in, dismissing the doctors. "Nicely done, both of you. Now that we have Commander Shepard, we can begin. We weren't sure what condition the body would be in, and from what we've seen, we wish there was more. But we are going to do everything we can." Anthony and Liara looked at each other, then back to Miranda, Anthony speaking up.

"What about Feron? Is your boss planning a rescue mission, or something? Because we'd both like to go and help-" Miranda held up a hand to interrupt.

"Feron knew the risks going into this. It's unfortunate, but he's considered collateral damage. The Broker doesn't take kindly to betrayal, so unless he escaped..." Miranda trailed off, shaking her head to emphasize her point. Both Liara and Anthony turned their eyes to the floor, nodding. Miranda turned and left the medical bay, leaving the two alone. Liara stood and walked over to the large window overlooking the nearby nebula. Anthony followed her with his eyes.

"Liara...you've got that 'I'm going to do something crazy' look in your eyes..." Liara just turned her head a little to the side, looking at him through the reflection of the window.

"He sacrificed himself, Anthony. To give us a chance. To make sure we got John out of there and away from the Collectors. John did the same thing. To make sure we all got off the Normandy. If he was here, talking with us and not whats left of him laying next door in that stasis pod...what would he do?" Anthony sighed softly and nodded, looking down.

"He'd probably jump off to go and save Feron. Probably no plan, either. Just make it up as he went along." Liara nodded.

"Well, I won't be so reckless. But I WILL be going to get him out of there, with a plan the Broker will never see coming. I owe it to him." Anthony just nodded as Liara stepped out of the bay, heading down the hallway towards the hangar. Slowly standing, he turned towards the door to the next bay over, looking in towards where the doctors were still consulting with each other and their datapads. Knowing Liara wouldn't leave without him, he just stood there, watching.

They didn't dare open the pod yet, but some highly detailed scans were aparently the source behind the hologram floating above, detailing the contents. The shape of a human skeleton was vaguely familiar, nearly every bone shattered into several pieces. A seperate layer showed muscle and skin, not one area not burned or torn. Anthony closed his eyes and rested his head on the frame of the door. A hand went to his arm, resting on the bandages recently recieved. The hiss of the door opening startled him, however, as the initial assessment of John had either ended, or reached an impasse.

Slowly, the doctors started filing out of the room, leaving the stasis pod on the operating table. The sleek silver pod gave no clue as to what was inside from that angle. A tap on the controls, a few steps, and he was standing beside it. The viewing window was scratched from the fight at Alingon, but it didn't appear to have any breach. Inside, Anthony could only make out a splash of red from John's armor. Almost everything else that was there was burned. He could only look for a few moments before turning away from what was left of his friend.

"I can promise you, we'll do everything we can to bring him back."

Anthony turned toward the door, slightly surprised to see not only Miranda, but The Illusive Man, standing at the doorway. He looked almost the same as when he and Liara first met him, through the hologram. His hand came up to his face, letting him take a long pull off the cigarette he was holding. Anthony nodded and turned back to the pod, reaching out and putting a hand on the cold metal.

"I know you will. Just...a little tough. John was one of the first people I met when I got here. I know you probably know my story, so you know what I mean." Turning, he saw The Illusive Man nod. Taking his hand off the pod, he walked towards the door, passing the two as he went into the hallway. Over his shoulder, he called back. "Just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Or when he wakes up...you'll wish he hadn't."

"The safety of humanity isn't a good enough reason?" Anthony stopped and turned towards Miranda. She was holding up a datapad, showing an image of Sovereign at the Citadel. "The Reapers are out there. You've seen it first hand." Nodding, he took a few steps towards the pair.

"Yeah. I have. And that means I know better than you the kind of shit storm you're walking into." Anthony took a deep breath and looked over at the window. "I'm not going to even pretend like I can stop you from doing whatever it is you're planning on doing. Just make sure you know whatever it is you're getting into before you wind up neck-deep in trouble you've never known before." The Illusive Man stepped up beside him, the cybernetics in his eyes reflecting off the window.

"Mr. Snyder...because you know what's out there...and because of the familiarity Shepard has with you for when he wakes up, I would like to make you an offer." Anthony paused, crossing his arms, but allowing the man to continue. "Work with us. We will make the best in any field you require available to you so you can get yourself completely up to speed with the way things work in this century. From what I understand, you've already been...'released' from your duties to the Alliance." Anthony nodded.

"Well, you make an interesting offer. What's the catch? I'm sure you're not just offering a job to a former Alliance NCO just out of the kindness of your heart." The Illusive Man gave a small chuckle. "I mean come on, what you just offered me is probably going to cost you a nice bit of change. I don't have any intel on the Alliance you probably don't already have." Miranda spoke up.

"Maybe not, but aside from having a familiar and friendly face around for Shepard, we've been following your renewed military career. As you've no doubt determined, we keep tabs on some of the projects the Alliance thinks they have a tight lid on. A sudden addition of a crew member whose file didn't even exist except in hard copy military archives on Earth? Well, let's just say it raised an eyebrow or two." The Illusive Man smirked.

"Miranda is putting it lightly. Needless to say, you have potential. The Marines sent you home since the technology didn't exist to keep you in the fight. Now that it is, and you're capable again, and the Alliance does the same thing, all because you took a stand against the Council to prevent the return of the Reapers. You have the drive and ambition that Cerberus looks for, and encourages." Anthony looked back out the window, staring into the nebula slowly rotating.

"I have two conditions." When neither The Illusive Man nor Miranda said anything, he continued. "I don't work for you. I work for John. You can't bring him back, I walk, and you don't follow." The Illusive Man nodded slightly, taking another pull of his cigarette.

"And the second?" Anthony turned to face the man down.

"You bring HIM back. No brainwashing, no mini explosive in the head, no VI directing his every thought. If you want John being back to have any kind of meaning, you need the leader he was, not a puppet." The Illusive Man brought a hand up to stifle Miranda's protest.

"Done and done. I'm confidant Shepard will do everything in his power for the betterment of Humanity. Due to the extensive damage, we may have to give an upgrade or two, but you have my word. The man you last saw on the Normandy is the man I want to bring back to the fight. I can have an army of blindly loyal soldiers. No, this galaxy needs independent leaders, ones not held back by bureaucratic red tape." Anthony nodded again, extending a hand, which The Illusive Man met with a firm handshake.

"I'm in."

* * *

><p>3502 Author's note: Ahhh...it's good to be back. So sorry for the long hiatus, but the combination of moving, managing my mother's estate, finding a new job, and my computer finally giving up the ghost completely has put a serious damper on being able to write nearly ANYTHING. But finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I should be getting my own computer soon, since having to write everything up on my iPad is both a pain in the neck and wrists. I'm hoping to be able to get back to a more regular updating schedule, but I can still promise nothing, unfortunately. Thank you so much to everyone that has stayed with me for this long. You have no idea what it means to me as an author. I know this chapter sounds a little rushed and is a little short(3,502 words), but unfortunately, ever since moving, one of the things I have seemed to loose track of is the comic this chapter and the last are based on. So this is what I can remember of the comic. Also, I was never a fan too much of the comic, but I felt like I had to include this in there so it's not SO much of a jump with the next one.<p>

PS: Anyone that has skillz with photoshop and is willing to do a small piece gratis, please PM me. I'm looking for someone that can help me create a cover image for this story.

Next Chapter: Cerberus Training, Experiments, and the Lazarus Project


	21. In The Den of Shadows

Disclaimer: See Chapter I - Beginnings

The Rift

Chapter XXI

In The Den of Shadows

Hell. Interesting, but hell. These were the words that came to mind when Anthony through back on the last twenty months he had spent at the Lazarus Research Station. While not an official member of Cerberus, he had been issued the same uniforms as most of the other operatives on the base, although he had taken the time himself to remove the black and gold Cerberus logos from the shoulders. After a few months of taking them off, whoever maintained the uniforms had apparently given up, and the ones that came back in his wardrobe in his small quarters all were devoid of the emblem.

The Chief Medical Officer for the Lazarus Project, Martin Wilson, had taken over his medical training, and with significantly fewer things exploding around him, he had gone through the entire Alliance Field Medic course. His intensity of training was far more than what he had gitten used to, either from his initial training in the Marines, or the tender mercies of Dr. Chakwas. Once he was confident that Anthony knew enough about modern technologies, Wilson focused more on the primary goal of the project, reviving John.

Miranda Lawson was something else, entirely. While she encouraged his skills and would allow him to help with some of the more minor details of the project, she demanded nothing less than perfection. Seeming to have almost a permanent scowl when looking over reports, she was, by far, the toughest superior he had ever worked under, even blowing away his original drill instructor from basic training, CPO Mendez. Once the Alliance had started outfitting weapons with the new thermal clip technology, she reassigned him to assist one of the security leads, Jacob Taylor, in getting the Cerberus weapons up to the same standard.

Thanks to working with Jake, he had gotten himself more than familiar with the weapons from this time, and now had a decent handle on them, even going so far as being able to field strip most of them in under a minute and a half. It was still far slower than the average twenty five seconds that the average grunt that grew up with this kind of technology, muscle memory still reaching for a standard magazine now and then, or a missed bolt that wouldn't allow the weapon to fold up completely into the compact storage mode, leaving it looking awkward.

In his quarters, having just reassembled the Spectre Armory sniper rifle he had held onto since the Battle of the Citadel, he was back to looking over some of the progress reports on John. Physically, the Lazarus Project had been doing what, to him, sounded like the most farfetched science fiction. Dead organs were revived with cybernetics and cloned tissue. Shattered bones mended and reinforced by carbon nanotubes. Muscles rebuilt with synthetic fibers.

_"Mr. Snyder, report to med bay one."_ His omni-tool suddenly lit up with Miranda's voice, catching him slightly off guard. Reaching up, he simply hit a button to acknowledge the message. Letting out a quiet sigh, he stood, pulling the Cerberus-issued top over his undershirt, intentionally leaving it untucked just to mess with Miranda's sense of perfection, knowing full well she couldn't really do anything against him. Exiting his room, he began the trek towards the medical wing, and the heart of Lazarus Station, passing several of the base's security mechs on the way. The robots reminded him of a cross between a Terminator, and a Star Wars battle droid. A little intimidating, but at the same time, completely ridiculous when left to their own devices.

The three heavy mechs that he knew the base had, however, were another story. He had seen test video, and was immediately reminded of an ED-209, a hulking mass of metal and wires, able to kill at a moment's notice. Thankfully, they were kept in a hibernation mode, strategically placed around the base, ready to be activated automatically, or at an order from Miranda.

Walking into the medbay, he was broken from his musings when he saw the procedure table. On it, was unmistakably John. He looked like he had just been through a meat grinder, but it was him. Hair had begun to grow back. A tube down his throat was hooked up to a ventilator, keeping his breathing at a natural rate, if not a little stiff movement. All over, however, were places where his skin had not quite finished growing back, the dim orange glow of cybernetics shining through. Miranda stood off to the side, staring at one of the computer readouts. Wilson was monitoring some kind of experiment of his, off in the side at an isolation pod.

Looking up, Miranda gestured him over. "I thought you might want to see this. Physical reconstruction is almost complete, and we've been slowly working on the neurological rebuilding for a month, now. He's actually been showing some promising brain activity." Anthony nodded and looked over to what just might be his friend, brought back from the abyss.

"Miranda, I won't say it's not amazing. But is it actually John in there?" Miranda didn't answer, instead just looking at the readouts on her screen. Recognizing when she didn't want to say anything either way, simply because she didn't have enough information, he decided to change the subject. "What's Marty working on over there?" That brought a small smile to her lips, as well as a quiet grumble from the doctor, hating the nickname, which is why Anthony used it.

"Actually, that's the reason I called you here. While putting Commander Shepard back together, we had a thought." Miranda stood and walked over to the table, putting a hand lightly on John's bare shoulder. "What if the famous human Spectre was also a biotic? Would that have helped him in any way? Could that have made the fight against Saren, the Geth, and Sovereign any easier? Maybe even a biotic field might have kept him alive?" Anthony raised an eyebrow, looking over.

"But, isn't the whole human biotic thing something that has to happen before you're born? Especially since it's not natural with us like it is for asari, or krogan?" Miranda nodded.

"Normally, yes. But Wilson and I have developed a process to artificially introduce element zero into the human neurologic systems, creating a biotic out of anyone. That...is where you come in. I want to make sure it works. With you. All of our data suggests it will." Anthony had a bit of a double take between Miranda and Wilson, eyes wide.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I know you don't joke, I'd swear you were joking, Miranda. But since you're not, I'm going to have to say 'hell no' to the guinea pig thing. I appreciate the thought, and definitely have enjoyed my time here, finishing up my training, and really getting fully adjusted to this time. But I'll pass on the whole 'experime..." A beep from one of the computers cut him off, drawing everyone's attention. Wilson went over to the far side of the treatment bed, checking on one of the monitors on that side. Miranda went to the other console, pulling up the recording of the readouts. Suddenly, there was another tone from the equipment, Miranda's gaze shooting up to the readings.

"There. On the monitor. Something's wrong..." Wilson looked over, then hurriedly tapped on his screen, pulling up a real-time brain-wave map of John. As Anthony looked at the screen, he saw the readings starting to spike. Wilson looked over to the two of them.

"He's reacting to outside stimuli...showing an awareness of his surroundings." John's head started to move slowly, eyes cracking open for a moment before closing again at the brightness of the lights. "Oh my god, Miranda. I think he's waking up." All three went to him, Miranda hesitating only a moment, mostly out of shock, before looking up to Martin.

"Damn it, Wilson, he's not ready yet! Give him the sedative!" Shepard's eyes had cracked open again, and looking around the room, his gaze fixed on the one thing he recognized. Anthony. Slowly, his hand reached up, but Anthony walked forward, shaking his head and pushing John's hand slowly back down. Wilson took a syringe, injecting it directly into one of the fluid lines going under the sheet on the table.

"John, it's all right. You're safe. Just lie still. You need to stay calm." The beeping from the machines was steadily increasing. Wilson looked over to his monitors, a bit of panic starting to creep into his voice.

"Heart rate's still increasing. Brain activity is off the charts!" Miranda strode quickly around the table, the movement pulling John's gaze. As the beeping increased, a second beep started sounding. "Stats are pushing into the red zone! We're going to loose him!" Miranda pushed Wilson aside, her fingers flying over the holographic interface. Something in her voice, though, made Anthony nearly snap to attention when she spoke.

"Snyder, another dose, now! Damn it, Wilson, I told you your numbers were off!" Before she even had finished speaking, he had run to the other side of the table, grabbing another syringe, filling it from the bottle, and quickly injecting it into the IV line. After a moment, the beeping started to slow. Looking up at the monitors, Anthony let out a breath he barely knew he was holding.

"Vitals returning to normal range. EEG spikes leveling out. Shit, that was too close." Looking back down, he saw John's eyes slowly drift closed again, his body once again going slack as the doses of anesthesia kicked in. A slap brought his attention back up, seeing Wilson still reeling from the hit, Miranda's voice putting a chill to both men.

"One more slip, Wilson, and you're off this project." Wilson gave an angry glare, to which Miranda responded only with a tightening of her fist, giving off a flare of biotics. "Get your ass back to the lab and run those numbers again. And this time, they had better be right." Wilson glared angrily at the both of them for a moment before turning and stalking from the room, headed off toward the main med lab.

After a moment, Miranda spoke, though not looking at Anthony. "Snyder, I'm going to defer to your judgement on the biotic idea. If this is how close we are to failure, then you're right, it's too big a risk. We'll just have to stick with the adrenaline enhancers." Anthony looked up, as if to say something, but her hand was already up to stop him. "They were one of the first things we put in. Upgrades to the standard Alliance issue implants. No changing it now." Looking down at John, she seemed to be in thought for a moment, and Anthony could tell she wanted to say something.

"What is it, Miranda? I haven't seen that look on your face in a while." The woman looked up, a hard glare shooting back, before she slowly nodded, looking down at John's now resting form.

"Between the three of us, I'm not the medical expert here. You have a lot more experience with these things than I do." Taking a deep breath, she looked up to Anthony, her stance full of resolve. "I'm going to give you backdoor access to everything Wilson is working on. You go over it all with a fine-toothed comb." Turning, she stared him down, as if daring to defy her. "You find anything out of order, you copy the data, fix it, then you report to me, and only to me. Understood?"

He nodded once, which was all he got before she turned and walked from the room, heading down the hall toward the living quarters, her omni-tool already lit. His lit up a moment after, signifying the data access she had just given him.

* * *

><p>The timer slowly ticked down on the HUD in his helmet. Only thirty seconds left before the bomb in front of him exploded. Omni-tool up, lines of code flew past him on the screen. Anthony's eyes went back and forth over the jumbled mess of letters and numbers, trying to find the weak points to exploit to shut down the detonator. The basic hacking program Tali had given him two years ago was useless, now, security patches and updates having fixed all of the exploits it used. Now, it was all raw code and trained eyes.<p>

Seventeen seconds.

This was so different from the casual hacking he had done back in his own time. It reminded him a bit of the old movie _Hackers,_ virtual files of information flying past the screen almost faster than he could read them. Picking one out, his screen flashed red as the bomb's programming recognized his attempt, cutting down on the time left.

Five.

Four.

Three. He scrolled through frantically, trying to regain his spot, finding one of the flaws and exploiting it, getting a level deeper into the programming.

Two.

One.

Boom. His vision filled with white as the bomb exploded.

Slowly, he stood, pulling his helmet off as the holograms around him shattered, Jacob's voice coming from the door to the training room. "Tony, what the hell was that? Even I could have hacked that thing. I thought you said you used to be a hacker in your day?" Anthony shook his head, pointing his hand towards where the simulated bomb had been.

"Come on, Jake. I was. Give me a hard-line connection and a few million lines of C to look at, and I'll crack the system in an hour. This is so far beyond what I used to work with. How about we try one that ISN'T behind four firewalls and with turian military-grade encryption?" Stowing his helmet, he walked over to the weapons officer, poking an accusing finger at his chest. "By the way, I call bullshit on you being able to do any better." The two men shared a hard look for a moment before, almost in sync, they cracked into light laughter, Jacob nodding slightly.

"Yeah, alright, that was a crock. Miranda wanted me to push it to a whole other level since you've torn through the basics. She wants to know what your limits are. But how did you know that was Turian encryption? The program was written by a Salarian, but everything was in English." Anthony nodded and pulled his omni-tool up again, resetting the bomb on the sim and pulling up the code. Scrolling through it on a stasis mode, he highlighted a few lines.

"Look at these spots. I've heard Turian without the translator, before. Really rough on the ears. These bits of code are written the way they talk." Jacob looked over at the screen, shrugging as his eyes ran over the code.

"Still looks like jibberish to me. But then again, I was always crap at hacking. I guess it's just not my area." Anthony smirked and nodded, reaching up to unhook his armor. Suddenly, the deck beneath him shook. Jacob looked around at the motion. "The hell was that? Gravity tremor?" Anthony shook his head, a sudden flashback of being back on the _Normandy_ coming to mind.

"No way. Too deep, and the M-E fields should have adjusted. That was inside." Alarms started sounding, confirming his guess. "Something just went up in a big way, and that's our cue. You armed?" Jacob pulled his pistol from it's holster, bringing up his fist, showing it surrounded by the deep blue of a biotic field.

"Always. Come on, let's go secure the bio wing. The mechs should already be on the way to whatevrer that was." Nodding, Anthony pulled his shotgun and readied it, the two soldiers exiting into the hallway. A quick turn brought them to a group of security mechs patrolling the hall, weapons at the ready. Jacob went closer, lowering his pistol. "Status report!"

The three robots turned at the sound, pausing for a split second before raising their pistols at the two. Jake quickly ducked into a doorway on the side, Anthony retreating back behind the corner they just came from as rounds started pinging off the metal around each of them. Anthony looked over to the other ex-soldier, nodding his head towards the metal attackers. "Well, that's just great. Looks like someone disabled their IFF protocols!" Raising his shotgun, he rounded the corner, squeezing off four rounds in quick succession, Jacob joining him with the pistol, shredding the mechs in the confined space.

When they stopped sparking, the men approached the remains, Anthony kicking one lightly with his boot. Jacob frowned down at the pieces of metal, shaking his head. "This is bad. Mech access is highly restricted. Me and Miri only. Come on, we have to get to Shepard."

Nodding, the two picked up their pace, headed for the medlab. Once they came into a small atrium, however, shots started pinging off the metal handrail from across the way, a group of five mechs across the way, each taking potshots at them. Taking cover behind the railing, they began exchanging fire. Both were surprised when one mech exploded from a headshot that neither of them fired. Turning toward the far end of the platform, neither expected the person standing there, fully outfitted, sporting the blood red stripe of N7 on his armor, pistol in hand, helmet off, revealing a face still lightly scarred and glowing with the dull orange of the cybernetics beneath. Anthony's jaw dropped at the sight.

"John?"

AN: Whoooo! I'm back, baby! So sorry it's taken so long to get this up, everyone. This was a very difficult chapter to write, since we know so little about what actually happened during Shepard's nap. I actually had to scrap it and restart several times before I finally ended up with something that I was content with. That, and my computer taking a nosedive didn't help matters. Hopefully now, I'll be able to beat my muse into submission and get the next one out sooner. Again, anyone willing to work with me and make a cover image for the story will be much appreciated! Also, I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but a message from a reader prompted me to say this: This is not going to be an Anthony/Liara story. Just friends, maybe a little unresolved sexual tension. Anthony, I have something else planned for, and maybe Liara as well. Depends on where it goes in my head. Thanks for sticking with me!


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